Sport
18 June, 2021
Confidence rising following Magpies victory
CAMPERDOWN recorded a confidence-boosting, yet narrow open netball victory over Hamilton Kangaroos last Saturday.
CAMPERDOWN recorded a confidence-boosting, yet narrow open netball victory over Hamilton Kangaroos last Saturday.
The Magpies, which entered the contest with just one victory on the board, trailed by a small margin for the majority of the match but rallied late to triumph 54-52 at Leura Oval.
It was the fourth time this season Camperdown’s match ended in a deficit of less than five goals, with coach Brooke Richardson thrilled to be on the right side of the result once again.
The Magpies had drawn two of those recent games, while the third was Camperdown’s sole win for the season before last weekend.
It was a huge win for us,” Richardson said.
“Especially for the girls to know that in the close ones we can still find a way to get the four points.
“It was a great team effort and it will give us a lot of confidence heading into the rest of the season.”
Richardson praised her side’s whole court defence in the victory, with the Magpies pressure creating turnovers which turned into scoring opportunities.
She said another key to the win was the Magpies ability to fix its mistakes on the fly, which was more evident as the game progressed.
“Early on we let ourselves down with errors but in the end we were able to apply that defensive pressure and it was all over the court,” Richardson said.
“It was really great to see in those pressure circumstances that we can still apply a whole court defence and create turnovers and then capitalize on them as well.”
Richardson was pleased with the individual performances of her entire side.
Amanda Gilbert (38 goals) and Krystal Baker (16 goals) combined strongly in attack, with Mary Place, Tracey Baker and Chelsea Baker regularly feeding the pair.
In defence, Grace Lucas produced a strong effort at wing defence while Jess Cameron and Richardson battled gamely against star Kangaroos goalie Holly Phillips.
“It really was a whole team win,” Richardson said.
“Krystal Baker shot well in crucial moments and I swung Jess back to goal defence on Holly Phillips, who was playing really well, and she was able turnovers for us in key moments.
“It was also the first time I’d played Grace Lucas in wing defence and she played a great role.”
In the other open netball games last week, Cobden and South Warrnambool recorded wins over Warrnambool and Terang Mortlake respectively, while Koroit and North Warrnambool defeated Port Fairy and Portland.
The Magpies are now hoping to build on its win by channeling its performance into another strong display tomorrow (Saturday).
The side has another winnable game against Portland, but Richardson is wary of the challenge the Tigers will present.
“Portland has still been doing well and are pushing teams so we need to go in with the same mentality as last week,” she said.
“To win against Portland we need to put together four strong quarters, have a whole court defence and take our pressure up a notch.
“We also need to rein in our errors to make sure we are scoring off our centres and off our defensive pressure.”
Other games this weekend will see Cobden host South Warrnambool in a top-of-the-table clash, Port Fairy taking on Warrnambool, Terang Mortlake facing North Warrnambool and Hamilton Kangaroos at home against Koroit.