Round 15 isn’t over yet, with two more home games scheduled for Geelong Cougars and Hawks Netball on Saturday and Sunday. Nevertheless, Wednesday night was filled with some exciting games with teams keeping their finals dreams alive.
19/Under
City West Falcons (49) drew with Peninsula Waves (49)
Boroondara Express (41) defeated by North East Blaze (67)
Casey Demons (61) defeated Ariels (53)
Prior to the game, just four percent separated the two teams between a finals spot or missing out. A win was needed for either side to secure their position in the top four, yet when the final whistle was blown Peninsula Waves and City West Falcons were tied.
It was a tight tussle across the court, with Kahlan Tanoi and Mikayla Philipps providing an exciting match-up. Both ball getters, their match-up came with an array of clashes, forced deflections and beautifully timed intercepts. Tanoi was particularly impressive with her finesse to read the play and create turnovers on the Waves centre pass.
However, it was a battle of the goal attacks, with both Teal Hocking and Jess Tetley confidently putting up the shots for their teams. Hocking did a lot of work out the front to get the ball into the circle while Tetley allowed her midcourt of Philipps and Eryn Stocker bring it down to her in the circle. Even the long arms of Charli Nicol could not stop the pinpoint accuracy Stocker presented within the game.
Division 1
City West Falcons (56) defeated Peninsula Waves (44)
Boroondara Express (48) defeated by North East Blaze (59)
Casey Demons 49 drew with Ariels 49
With both teams sitting pretty in third and fourth position this game was about bragging rights and that’s exactly what City West Falcons walked away with against Peninsula Waves. In the first half nothing could separate them with both sides turning the ball over and making some costly mistakes but it was City West Falcons who took a 12-goal win after a surge in the third quarter.
Caitlyn Hill was a returning force for the winning side, shooting with accuracy and from range while also delivering accurate passes to holding goal shooter Tharjini Sivalingham. While Hill looked strong nothing could stop Waves goal shooter, Helen Margaret Ashin who withstood the rotation of three goal keepers in the first half.
Defensively the two teams had very different objectives and two defenders shined brightly from their efforts. Sophie Hanrahan was impressive with her ability to shut down seasoned volume shooter Stacey Gardiner and her long arms were in full show as she shielded the ball from entering the circle. Down the other end, Gretta Hankinson stood behind her opponent and was putting all her might into an impressive standing vertical jump that allowed her to receive deflections and rebounds
Championship
City West Falcons (93) defeated Peninsula Waves (47)
Boroondara Express (60) defeated by North East Blaze (61)
Casey Demons (72) defeated Ariels (48)
It was a needed win with both Boroondara Express and North East Blaze fighting for the fourth spot, and both teams knew their finals dreams were on the line. In the end, the winner was decided in an absolute nail-biter with the Blaze scraping home with a one goal victory.
It was high-flying hunting season in the goal circle for defenders, and Michelle Massarany did not disappoint. No pass into the circle was safe and every rebound was hers. Massarany also managed to change her style of play to match the goaler she was marking to further prevent the ball from entering the circle with ease.
After hitting the Super Netball court in the Melbourne Vixens preliminary final, Ruby Barkmeyer returned to the VNL with renewed confidence, shooting plenty of goals and adding a couple of deflections and intercepts to her name.
For the North East Blaze, the driver to get back into this game was Meg Williams. Playing in centre she was matched up against road runner, Taylah Brown for a good portion of the game but managed to keep her cool and bring the ball down the court with some quickfire passes.
In the end this game came to the wire, with Isabella Hodgson missing two shots in the last 90 seconds, and Nyah Allen finishing the game off under the post after an array of pick-ups and intercepts from both sides.
