Northcote Park 1 claimed one of their most impressive wins of the 2024 Cleaning Melbourne Division 11 winter netball campaign after a 17-goal victory over West Preston-Lakeside 1 at Community Bank Stadium.
Scores were locked at 7-7 at quarter time, before a huge 10-3 second term broke the game open for the Cougars. Winning the last two terms, and the final quarter by eight goals, then confirmed the eventual 37-20 triumph.
The win over the top of the table Roosters puts Northcote Park in a good position with three regular season games to play, despite sharing the same record as fourth placed Montmorency 4 and fifth placed Kilmore 7.
West Preston-Lakeside remain on top of the ladder, but they now have the same 8-4 record as second placed Kilmore 6.
The Cougars’ goals were almost perfectly split by Rebecca Brown (19) and Ellie McMahon (18), who each combined well to be a great duo in the attacking circle.
Brydie Elks and Kellie Moorcroft also impressed on the defensive end, keeping their opponents to just 10 goals in each half throughout the evening.
Chloe Crapper scored all but two of West Preston-Lakeside’s total score, taking her tally to 190 goals since the Roosters were put into Division 11.
Madeline Martuccio was also a solid player on the court for the Roosters, playing in wing attack.
A very even contest played out during the opening quarter, with both sides having their fair share of momentum.
It saw little opportunity for either team to gain ascendency for enough of the quarter to establish a lead, with both sides scoring seven goals apiece by the end the term.
But it was Northcote Park’s second quarter that created some distance between the two sides as they produced a 10-goal term.
Both Rebecca Brown and Ellie McMahon were efficient inside the attacking third, while Nicole Brown and Emma Miller were influential in the middle third to help create multiple scoring opportunities for their teammates.
At the other end, Elks and Moorcroft helped restrict West Preston-Lakeside to just three goals, to help the Cougars take a seven-goal advantage into half time.
The Roosters were better versed to even things up in the third, slowing down Northcote Park’s transitional play, but the Cougars would win the term again, extending their lead to nine goals ahead of the final quarter.
A dominant last term sealed Northcote Park’s seventh triumph of the 2024 winter campaign, thanks to an 11-3 goal quarter.
Seven goals from McMahon was one of the highlights of the quarter, but the entire Cougars outfit were in sync with their ball movement throughout the term on their way to an impressive 17-goal victory.
