Sport
17 May, 2022
Tigers looking for consistency
SIMPSON Tigers netballers suffered their second loss for the season away at Alvie on Sunday, going down 29-50.
SIMPSON Tigers netballers suffered their second loss for the season away at Alvie on Sunday, going down 29-50.
The Tigers battled hard through the first half of the match, trailing by one goal at quarter time and only three down at half-time.
But Simpson couldn’t keep pace with the home side down the stretch, outscored by 28 goals to nine through the second half ofthe game.
Jessie Harding shot well for the Tigers again, scoring 20 goals, while Kelly Thompson was named best on court for Simpson for her unfailing efforts in the mid-court.
Coach Paige Salmon praised Thompson’s contribution throughout the match, having moved the experienced player from wing attack into centre for the latter parts of the game.
“She just went hard all day, got turnovers, applied pressure, she didn’t give up,” Salmon said.
Salmon said while she was pleased with her side’s first-half play they were simply outplayed by a better side on the day.
“I was really happy with the first quarter, but it just slowly slipped away from us after half-time,” she said.
“In that last quarter they just blew us away. They’re a great side and they kept their intensity up for the full four quarters, and we just weren’t able to match it with them inthe end.”
Simpson has had a strong start to the season, winning four of the first six games, but inconsistency within games has been an issue for the Tigers.
“We know we can be competitive, we’ve just got to do it over four quarters,” Salmon said.
“Before this week we were starting slow, and then this week we started well and finished badly.”
Salmon said if her side could figure out how to maintain its intensity throughout the match they could make finals and do well there.
“It’s a really tight competition so far. We’re aiming for top five,” she said.
“We need to be consistent over four quarters, and if we can do that I think we can realistically aim for top five.”
The Tigers face Otway Districts this week, who also have a 4-2 record so far, and Salmon said it was an important match for her side.
“They’ll be tough, I think we’ll match up pretty evenly against them,” she said.
“It should be a tight game. They’ve got a new goalie who seems to be doing really well, and they’ve got a really strong defence, so I think it’ll be a tight contest on the day.”
In other games around the grounds, Birregurra beat Lorne 44-39, Apollo Bay won away against Western Eagles, Otway Districts defeated Colac Imperials, and South Colac won at home against Irrewarra-Beeac.