Tara Murray
It was a much better performance from the City West Falcons on Wednesday night in the Victorian Netball League championship division.
After a nervous start in round one against the Geelong Cougars last Sunday, the Falcons had no issues against the Peninsula Waves, winning 86-44.
Falcons coach Marg Lind was pretty happy with Wednesday night’s performance.
“The first game we were pretty nervous,” she said. “With new players we weren’t really settled and lost by three.
“We got that game under our belt and we were more settled.”
With such a big lead, Lind and the other coaches took the chance to try out a number of new combinations.
Nyibol Akec got a run in the championship side, while Maggie Lind and Montana Holmes switched between centre and wing attack.
Lind said it also gave them the opportunity to mix up their defensive end.
“Sienna [Allen], Zoe [Davies] Sophie [Hanrahan] all got rotated through,” he said.
“We were looking at combinations as against Geelong we didn’t have that luxury.”
Lind said for now Hanrahan would play as the third defender, but they were still keen to see what Charli Nicol and Achel Yout can do throughout the season in the top grade.
Jane Cook scored 48 goals, while Maddy Gray scored 21 and Uneeq Palavi scored 16 goals.
Lind said she was thrilled with the performance of Lucia Fauonuku in wing defence, saying it was one of her best games in a long time.
The Falcons though are without Soli Ropati, who will miss six weeks after having knee surgery.
It was a clean sweep for the Falcons on Wednesday night.
After a round one loss, the division 1 side beat the Waves, 56-43.
The under-19s made it two from two with a 75-46 win.
Lind said she was happy with the start to the season.
“I’m pretty happy with where we sit,” she said.
“Last season I think we started 0-2, we’ve been a lot better this year. We will build as t he season goes on.
“The defensive end took some time, but there’s been some good signs.”
The Falcons this week face the Hawks.
Tara Murray
