North Heidelberg 1 climbed to fourth place on the Section 1 netball ladder with a dominant performance against Fitzroy Stars 1 at La Trobe Sports Stadium.
The Bulldogs led from the outset and broke the game wide open during a flawless third term, to storm to a 58-38 win.
The result improved the club’s record to 3-2-1 in season 2021 and helped them jump back into the top-four. Fitzroy remains in third place but has lost ground on ladder-leader Diamond Creek 1.
North Heidelberg began the encounter with a two-goal head start after the Stars were late onto the court, and then took advantage of their opponent starting the match with only six players.
The Bulldogs led 6-3 minutes into the contest, and then opened the lead further when GA Georgia Rogers took a fine rebound off a missed shot to assist Paris Bosschieter for a goal.
The play was replicated at the other end immediately, with Fitzroy Stars GS Natasha Atkinson-Brown reacting quickly to swoop on a missed shot to set up teammate Idau Hollis.
With the Stars eventually getting a seventh player on court, North Heidelberg managed to maintain a handy buffer throughout the opening term and stretched its lead to five just before quarter time.
They kept the score at 14-9 at the first break after WD Lucy Bult took a fantastic intercept to deny the Stars a late move forward.
Fitzroy began to work its way nicely into the game early in the second term, with Idau Hollis finding her range from distance to put through several outstanding shots.
Her accurate shooting closed the margin to two goals halfway through the quarter, as North Heidelberg began to make some uncharacteristic errors in their own attacking end.
A great intercept by Fitzroy Stars GD Akanisi Seeto resulted in a brilliant chain of play that led to a goal to Natasha Atkinson-Brown, which closed the difference to just one.
The Bulldogs missed their next two attempts, which opened the door for the Stars, and they took the invitation to take the lead for the first time with two more goals to Atkinson-Brown.
Falling behind seemed to kickstart the Bulldogs, who responded on the scoreboard immediately and then look back the lead after intercepting an errant pass out of defence by the Stars.
The Bulldogs maintained their momentum throughout the final five minutes of the opening half, with a goal on the buzzer to GA Ebyan Cabdi stretching their advantage to five at half time, with the scoreboard at 25 to 20.
North Heidelberg’s hot run of form continued right through the third term, with the Bulldogs busting the game wide open across the next 15 minutes.
The Bulldogs put in seven goals to two in the opening five minutes of the quarter to open a 10-goal advantage.
Unable to break through North Heidelberg’s strong midcourt of Chloe Lambert, Olivia Ellis and Lucy Bult, the Stars tried some different tactics to work their way back, which included launching long passes out of defence.
No matter what the Stars did, the Bulldogs had a response and with five minutes to go in the quarter the margin was out to a game-winning 17 goals.
Natasha Atkinson-Brown tried to spark Fitzroy and put through two late goals to cut the margin to 15 at the final break. That included a neat over the shoulder goal while standing on just one leg in the final seconds.
North Heidelberg once again controlled the final quarter and managed to stretch their lead further on the back of 15 goals to 10.
GS Paris Bosschieter had a quarter to remember, scoring ten goals to extend her team’s winning margin to 20.
In other Section 1 results, reigning champions Diamond Creek 1 jumped to the top of the ladder after handing North Heidelberg 3 its first defeat of the year in a 65-41 result.
Diamond Creek 2 proved too good for Heidelberg 1 in a close 48-41 contest, while North Heidelberg 2 won its fourth game of the campaign with a 48-38 triumph over Heat 1.
