Hazel Glen 1 have produced their first win in the 2023 NFNL winter netball season after turning a five-goal deficit at half time into a six-goal victory over Thomastown 2 at Mernda Central College.
After losses of seven and three goals in the last two matches, the Glen produced a brilliant final term, scoring 11 goals to two, to run out 29-23 winners, handing Thomastown their fourth consecutive loss in the process.
It was a dominant first term by the Bears, who produced a five-goal run to earn themselves some breathing room going into the first break.
It seemed as though Thomastown were going to go on with the job as their shooters Zoe Sommerville (12 goals) and Ava Marotta (11) were converting from any range in the shooting circle.
But the sheer presence of Zoe Draper spooked the Bears attack line forcing some uncharacteristic errors, while she also won several rebounds, intercepts, and deflections predominantly in the defensive circle.
The Glen overall upped the intensity halfway through the second term, gaining some confidence and converting off their turnovers, hence punishing down the other end and getting themselves back in the contest.
Thomastown’s biggest lead of the night was seven goals but no matter how hard they tried to pull away, Hazel Glen were always just nipping at their heels.
The change of a more mobile shooting circle for Hazel Glen paid off with Haylie Baker (15 goals) getting into everything.
Her baseline drives were a highlight as she allowed herself the space and was confident at the post. Her defensive pressure was also crucial to the sides win with her contribution on the transverse line getting deflections and an intercept.
As a result, the Bears five-goal half time lead was cut to three by the final change and despite losing momentum, it was an advantage they could still break the game open with.
But it was a fourth quarter to remember for the Glen, who kept Thomastown to just two goals while scoring 11 of their own to run away with the triumph.
The defensive pressure from the Glen kicked the game up a notch, forcing a lot of turnovers in their defensive third while they were incredibly quick in transitioning into attack and converting down at the other end.
Jessica Hattie was the biggest change in the attacking third for the Glen with her pace, making sure no one got too ahead of themselves.
Her feeds were pinpoint accurate into the shooters and put them in prime shooting opportunity while being in the right place at the right time as a backup on or off circle edge or in defence.
