Tara Murray
City West Falcons ticked off their first major goal of the Victorian Netball League Championship season
With a shake up of the structure of the fixture set to come next week, the Falcons set an aim to be on top at the halfway mark of the season
An 82-52 win against the Southern Saints on Wednesday assured that.
Falcons coach Marg Lind said they were pretty happy with the match after a tight first quarter.
“They scored more than we would have liked,” she said.
“We were still scoring at a good rate. We changed some things defensively after the first quarter. They have a good small goal shooter who was good from long range. That type of player is our nemesis.
“Once we adjusted, we played better. We got to 80 goals without even realising. I didn’t think it was the best flow.”
Lind said they rotated the side more than they normally would, which gave them fresh legs throughout and helped push up the score.
Soli Ropati impressed in centre, a position she hasn’t played much the last couple of years, while Montana Holmes played well at wing defence.
Jane Cook shot 52 goals from 53 attempts in a strong performance in the circle.
The Falcons have won every game since a round one draw, to be on top after each team has played each other once.
“We wanted to win this match to have the ‘minor premiership’ after playing everyone once,” Lind said
The Falcons division 1 team had a one goal win against the Saints, 50-49, while the under-19s lost 51-42.
The VNL season is now set for a shake up, with the teams to be split into two pools in a round robin format, before finals.
Lind said the decision on what team plays in each pool was based on a ranking system and included the club’s three teams.
She said they were set to be in the same pool as second placed Melbourne University and possibly fifth placed North East Blaze.
Lind said the pool system wasn’t ideal, with all the club’s results so far this season now not counting for anything.
“You can have one bad game and you are in trouble,” she said.
“It now reminds me of a school tournament. You have to have the right maturity each week, as lots of things can go right and lots of things go wrong.”
Tara Murray
