A look back over Round 12 of the NNL’s Section 1 competition.
SWIFT NORTH GETS BEST OF EAGLES
An eight-goal lead created in the second quarter set up a 43-33 win for North Heidelberg against Whittlesea in Section 1 of the Northern Netball League.
The Round 12 win over the fifth-placed Eagles was North Heidelberg’s fifth win of the 2014 netball campaign.
An even first quarter saw both teams play strong defensively with forced turnovers being common in either team’s defensive third.
Turnovers also resulted from both teams making errors in attack, as they overthrew passes to their shooters.
Whilst Whittlesea was also quick through the midcourt, it was North’s ability to move the ball cleanly and with pace that gave it the advantage in the second term – the quarter in which North stamped its authority on the game.
More opportunities to score were lost for Whittlesea as immense defensive pressure from North caused the Eagles to spray passes in their attacking third.
This helped North create an eight-goal lead going into the second half of the match.
The move of Jacinta Dwight into centre in the third quarter added an injection of pace for Whittlesea, which looked like it could have turned the momentum in the Eagles’ favour.
But this period of good play by Whittlesea only lasted for the opening minutes of the third quarter, until another effort saw them shoot four consecutive goals later in the quarter.
But the bursts of promising play weren’t able to be sustained for long enough as North steadily added goals throughout the second half.
Some good rebounding from the North Heidelberg shooting pair meant no opportunities were wasted.
Although she only scored three goals herself, smart passes from goal attack Yasmin McGregor in the circle helped Lauren Byrnes score 38 of her victorious team’s 43 goals for the match.
In other Section 1 games, seventh-placed Greensborough caused a massive boilover with a two-goal win over ladder leader and reigning premier Diamond Creek.
The 38-36 result was just Diamond Creek’s second loss of the 2014 season and gives the Boro some chance of playing finals as the competition approaches the final third of the home and away season.
Elsewhere, Bundoora Comets proved too strong for the Fitzroy Stars in a 12-goal result, winning 51 to 39. Eltham was forced to forfeit its game against Lakeside, however the Panthers will return to the court this Friday to take on Whittlesea.
Final score: North Heidelberg (43) defeated Whittlesea (33)
