Tara Murray
The City West Falcons overcame several days of uncertainty to claim an important win against the Casey Demons in the Victorian Netball League championship division.
With talk of the state being plunged into a lockdown, the Falcons at one stage thought round six of the competition wouldn’t go ahead last Wednesday.
The game did eventually go ahead, albeit at a different stadium, with the Falcons winning 64-62.
Falcons coach Marg Lind said the biggest battle had been keeping the playing group mentally switched on.
“We didn’t expect to play,” she said. “We were a bit frazzled and it was hard to keep everyone on track as we expected to be in lockdown.
“We did really well and stayed on track.”
Lind said they were happy with the win, but said it could have been a bigger against a side that always performs strongly.
She said any opposition team that has Emma Ryde is always a chance.
Lind said while there weren’t any standouts for the Falcons on court, she was pleased with the leadership of shooter Jane Cook.
“She showed some really good leadership,” Lind said.
“At times when we were looking a bit frazzled, she continued to be really engaged and telling the girls to be patient.
“She was really vocal saying one more pass and not to force it. It was a big step forward in her on court development.”
Lind said she was really pleased with the side’s form – they are sitting second with five wins and a draw.
She said they used the rolling sub better in the match against the Demons and Sarah Szczykulski returned from injury in a big boost for the side.
It was a big night for the Falcons, with all three of its teams winning on the same night for the first time this season.
The under-19s won 47-32 and the division 1 team won 48-46.
“We’ve put a lot of faith in both of these teams,” Lind said.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, especially early. Those wins put us back in the mix.”
The Falcons were due to play Aerials on Sunday, but that match was postponed due to a snap COVID-19 lockdown.
As was a match against ladder leaders Melbourne University on Wednesday.
Lind said they would look to have some online training sessions during lockdown.
“We were meant to have three games in seven days to try and get the schedule in,” she said.
“It’s really going to affect things and we’ll be expecting to prepare for weeks later in the season with two games a week.
“I deleted Zoom off the Ipad. We did something like 90 zoom sessions last year.
“We’ll give them a few days off before getting into some sessions.”
