With the top five sides on the ladder playing the next five sides below them, it was no surprise to see mostly one-sided results in round nine of the Horsham District netball league.
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The closest finish came between Jeparit-Rainbow and Edenhope-Apsley, with the Saints coming away with an eight goal win away from home, 39-47.
The damage was done mostly in the second quarter, with Edenhope-Apsley extending a two goal lead at quarter time to a seven goal lead by the half.
The match-winning second quarter run came at the perfect time for the Saints, with rain in the second half making it difficult for either side to play their style of netball and ensuring a low-scoring contest.
Saints coach Ellie Thomas said it was a hard-fought win.
"It was a really tight game early on," Thomas said. "At the end of the second quarter we were able to get up and built a bit of a lead ... we were lucky we got ahead of them then.
"With the rain in the third quarter it turned into a pretty slow game. We had plenty of the ball but just lost it on the centre passes sometimes just with not being able to grip the ball.
"It turned into not a very pretty game in the second half."
Thomas was the main target for the Saints as she moved deeper forward as goal shooter in the second term. She capitalised to score 31 goals in the match and was named Edenhope-Apsley's best.
"I haven't done that before but I thought we'd change it up a little bit," Thomas said.
"We just thought we'd keep our options open, change it up a little bit and give our goal shooter Georgia Lowe a run at goal attack."
It was a good momentum building win for the Saints, and they will certainly need to maintain that rhythm into next round's contest against Natimuk United.
"The girls did really well. Our defenders were really good, put on a lot of pressure and forced turnovers. We will obviously need that going into next week," Thomas said.
The Ewes were too strong for Rupanyup, recording a whopping 47 goal win and extending their undefeated run this season. Laharum were similarly impressive in maintaining their unbeaten streak, defeating Swifts 39-75.
Meanwhile Kalkee put an end to Pimpinio's two-game winning streak with a 70-47 victory. Attacking duo Jenna Bywaters and Haley Thomas were the key players for Kalkee, scoring 44 and 26 goals respectively and both being named their side's best.
Harrow-Balmoral were also too strong for Noradjuha-Quantong, taking a 28 goal win.
Richard Crabtree
richard.crabtree@austcommunitymedia.com.au
richard.crabtree@austcommunitymedia.com.au
