General News
2 July, 2019
Bombers suffer first loss of season
A FLAT performance saw Cobden fall to its first loss of the 2019 Hampden league open netball season against North Warrnambool on Saturday.
A FLAT performance saw Cobden fall to its first loss of the 2019 Hampden league open netball season against North Warrnambool on Saturday.
The Bombers unbeaten run ended at 10 games after they went down to the Eagles at Bushfield, with the hosts navigating the wet conditions better during the 53-44 result.
Cobden coach Mel Starr said her side was behind from the opening minutes.
“We didn’t play very well and we kind of didn’t play very well from the first whistle,” she said.
“We were very flat and the girls said that during the game so it does become up to them with how they lift themselves out of those funks (in future matches).
“But I think North adjusted to the conditions better than we did, their goalers were exceptional and shot well all day so full credit to them.”
Starr said her side’s showing was “not necessarily” a drop from its own high standards established during a winning start to the season, but rather an inability to impact the contest.
She said it was hard to find ways to switch things around from the sidelines with Remeny McCann and Jaymie Finch both unavailable and has implored her players to take initiative next time they find themselves in a similar position.
“When you do have seven players you can’t make any little changes to get out of the flat spots, so the girls need to recognise they can do that on the court,” she said.
“They totally accept and understand they can do that.”
Despite the defeat, Starr said there were still some strong individual performances to highlight.
“Jess Wheadon had a really solid game down back and it resulted in Skye Billings doing a lot of work in goal attack, so she was terrific,” Starr said.
“And Amy Hammond had another great game, she really provided drive in the midcourt when we got stagnant.”
The Bombers buffer on top of the ladder was to cut to just four points ahead of the interleague bye, with Starr confirming her side would use the break to rejuvenate.
She said they would have the week off training before coming together again next week to commence preparations for its clash with Port Fairy on July 13.
“It’s a really good opportunity to have a break, we had seven play in the association championships so the girls are body tired and mentally exhausted as well,” she said.
“We’ll come back after the bye and reflect on the lessons we can take out of the game.”
In the lower grades, division one suffered a 29-20 loss, division two triumphed 28-24 and division three was victorious 30-24.
In the junior ranks, the 17 and under side was beaten 26-14, the 15 and under team went down 29-16, while the 13 and under girls prevailed 29-12.
On the football field, Cobden’s tough run of games continued against North Warrnambool last weekend.
The Bombers were outclassed by a strong Eagles outfit, who restricted them to just one goal for the match as they recorded an 18.15 (123) to 1.4 (10) victory in heavy conditions.
It was the Bombers 10th loss of the season and the second time they had gone down to the Eagles, who set up the result with 10 goals to one in the first half.
They then kicked 8.11 to 0.1 across the final two quarters to record a 113-point win.
Zach Green was named best on ground alongside Tarj Anderson, Sam Uwland, Jack McGlade, Daniel Watson and Christian Koroneos while Ryleigh McVilly was the side’s goal kicker.
The loss leaves the Bombers on the bottom of the ladder at the bye, with Cobden to face Port Fairy at home when the competition resumes on July 13.
Meanwhile, the remaining two football matches also went the way of the Eagles, who comfortably accounted for Cobden’s reserves and under 18.5 sides.
The reserves went down 17.10 (112) to 3.2 (20) despite the best efforts of Sam Thow, Ash Rosolin, Jacob Pekin, Will Benallack and Will Fagan.
The Eagles kicked seven goals to one in the opening quarter to set up the victory, and finished with eight goals to two throughout the remaining three terms to record a comfortable 98 point win.
Harry Darcy, Sam Giblett and Pekin each kicked one of the Bombers three goals.
The under 18.5s went down 12.9 (81) to 1.1 (7) as the Eagles kept the Bombers goalless for the opening three quarters, before Harry Darcy finally opened Cobden’s account in the last term.
Jack Darcy, Joe Hutt, Sam Darcy, Thomas Marshall, Mitch Reed and James Hallyburton were the better performers.