Thomastown 3 have won their seventh consecutive game in Section 8 of the NFNL winter netball competition, after a strong 19-goal win over South Morang 2 at RMIT University.
The Bears dominated from start to finish, with an 18-6 first half becoming the base for their 30-11 triumph.
They now move into the top four as a result of the win and with two games, remaining, are a big chance to secure a finals berth, while the Lions still sit two games outside a finals place, having lost their fourth consecutive match.
Thomastown had a great shooting split between Jade Higgins (16 goals) and Lauren O’Rourke (14 goals), with each player incredibly efficient inside the shooting circle throughout the match.
Efforts from Lauren Dillon and Hayley Grant also strongly contributed to securing the win for the Bears.
Whilst it was a tough night for South Morang, Briana Strangis was a standout in the defensive third, working incredibly hard to win the ball back for her side, while Emily McHugh top scored for the Lions with 10 goals, doing her best to fill the void left by the team’s leading goalscorer this season in Chloe Giannakos.
Thomastown started incredibly well against a Lions outfit who were looking for their first triumph since Round 4, scoring seven goals while keeping their opponents to just two.
Hayley Grant and Matilda McLauchlan were strong on the defensive end, working hard to pull down rebounds and get the ball moving for their side.
The Bears were determined to extend their five-goal lead in the second term, and they did just that, with a massive 11-goal quarter pushing their advantage out to an impressive 12 goals by the time the main break came around.
Higgins and O’Rourke again shared the shooting load while Lauren Dillon was reliable in providing great feeds to the attacking pair and stepped up in producing quick transitions between the midcourt and the attacking third.
South Morang produced a more competitive effort throughout the second half and did well to limit the scores going against them.
Tessa Imbriano was kept busy at centre while at goal defence, Strangis was able to force some turnovers from her opposition and continue to find ways to apply pressure to the Bears attacking duo.
But they couldn’t translate those efforts on the attacking front, with a two-goal term seeing their deficit increase to 16 goals by the final break.
The Lions’ spirit didn’t fall away throughout the last term despite the big task at hand, remaining competitive all over the court.
Thomastown were still able to maintain control of the game however, with another six-goal term solidifying a seventh straight triumph in the 2023 competition.
