A strong defensive effort from Heat 4 saw them prevail by 12 goals over Montmorency 2 in their Section 5 clash at RMIT University.
Heat trailed by a goal at quarter time but went on a 25-12 run in the final three terms to finish 30-18 winners, keeping the Magpies to their lowest score since the opening round of grading.
Both sides sat on four wins each coming into the contest, with Heat’s triumph now moving them into third place, while Montmorency sit in sixth spot, but still just two wins shy of top side Fitzroy Stars 1.
Heat’s ability to look directly to the post is what put them over the edge in the game, while also playing with confidence to let the ball do the work and challenge for every possession in defence.
Tahlia McLaren stood up inside the attacking circle for Heat with 17 goals, while Abbey Luttick was outstanding in the defensive third. The Magpies’ scoring was led by Amy Clay who finished with nine goals from her three terms.
Early pressure from the Magpies caused Heat to be scoreless for the first three minutes of the game. Montmorency’s Danielle Sampson was a stalwart in defence, with her unrelenting pressure on the centre pass and on the circle edge.
Her work in attack paid off as well, with the ball seeming to flow through the middle third easier when she was available as an option.
But while Montmorency had all the ascendency, they were unable to convert their turnovers into goals as often as they would have liked.
The Magpies defence forced the Heat’s shooting load to fall on McLaren in the first term with her doing a mountain of work outside of the circle and having to shoot all five of Heat’s goals for the quarter.
Trailing by one goal at quarter time, Heat produced a shift in the attacking end, allowing McLaren to shoot from further out and get good front space whilst utilising her strong dodges and baseline drives to draw the defenders out of the contest more.
It was also the start of a defensive showcase for Heat, with goalkeeper Abbey Luttick being an absolute menace in the defensive third. She was getting intercepts and deflections left, right and centre, and truly kept her side in the contest.
Heat had flipped the agenda as a result, keeping Montmorency to just a three-goal term, and taking a deserved six goal lead into half time.
Luttick continued to lead the defensive mindset of her side into the third quarter with some more impressive efforts; any ball that was left hanging in the air, she had her name all over it, challenging any and every pass she could.
The masterclass of defence across court from all Heat players kept the Magpies to just two goals in the third term whilst scoring six of their own, boosting their confidence on the court to a whole new level.
The quarter was soured by an injury to Montmorency’s Lauren van Dyke, but she was so shown great support and care by everyone on the court as she made her way for treatment.
Heat took a comfortable 10 goal advantage into three quarter time, going on with the job in the final quarter to claim a 12-goal victory, their third win in their last four games.
