MILLICENT prevailed by 22 goals when it travelled to McDonald Park to play East Gambier in Round 5 of Western Border netball on Saturday.
It was a game of milestones, with Donna Denton celebrating her 400th senior game for the Saints and Sarah Lock racking up 300 total games for the Bulldogs.
Millicent came out of the blocks firing, with Madi Turner, Lisa Duldig, Demi Verbena and Donna Denton moving the ball with such speed and precision that the undermanned East side had little hope of creating turnover ball.
Morgan Amy was unavailable due to work commitments, although she did arrive in time to enter the clash for the final quarter, but Jacinta Clark proved an intriguing replacement as she had the pace to run with Denton and her aerial skills were strong.
That being said the milestone Saint was still influential as the Millicent forward line showed it is a class above at this early stage of the season.
At the other end, Kimmi Varcoe was on the hunt for interceptions and she earned her fair share thanks to her commitment to attacking the ball at every opportunity.
Hayley Dunn was also primed for a big effort in her close mate’s 400th game and she was strong over the shot and managed to get her hands to a number of balls to disrupt East’s attacking efforts.
The hard running of Tarsh McCallum and Sara Smith was critical for East, while Tenille Gray was doing a mountain of work high in the court.
When Gray made her way into the circle she was again tough to deny possession and her finishing was accurate, but the Saints did make the Bulldogs handle the ball an inordinate amount of times before finding a goaler in good range.
In bad news for the rest of the competition, Turner has made centre her own and her defensive mindset and outstanding pace makes her a real threat at both ends of the court, while Duldig is dominating on the attacking wing and does not make a mistake.
Verbena’s pace and accuracy from long range looks set to cause problems for all opposition teams and that is before the ball even gets to Denton who is still the premier goaler in the competition.
The Bulldogs would not be happy with the loss but there were some good signs – as the game wore on, they did manage to slow the speed of ball from the Saints and if they can find some better flow and connection at the offensive end, they will be a lot closer to the reigning premiers than 22 goals.
North Gambier 60 d West Gambier 45
WEST Gambier would love to turn back the clock and start its Round 6 Western Border netball clash with North Gambier again.
It was the first quarter that cost the Roos any chance of victory and that eight-goal margin only blew out to the final margin of 15 goals in the last quarter as the intensity left the contest.
West could not connect in attack and instead of its usual strong drives and clever use of the pockets, it was working the ball in tight and playing into the hands of the smothering North defence.
At the other end, Kaitlin Egan was finding the circle’s edge and her shooter Caroline Davey with relative ease and with Davey continuing to finish accurately, the Tigers were in control.
After quarter time, it was as if a new West line-up hit the court.
Carlee Davey was finding good space on the drive and Tahlia Earl found her mojo, meaning Lisa McGregor and Jess Bell had good support and all of a sudden the Roos were dangerous offensively.
Courtesy of some good turnover ball created by Bell, Amy Cram and Maddy Teakle, West soon worked its way back to only three goals in arrears, but North finished the quarter with a flourish and while the Roos won the quarter, the margin was still around six at the main break.
North brought Ash Kalantarian into the clash on the defensive wing after half time, while Emily Close, who started the match on the defensive wing, moved into the centre.
West maintained a much better focus early in this quarter but again it was the final few minutes that proved costly and with Egan and Davey continuing to run riot at the offensive end of the court for North, the margin was approaching double figures with a quarter to play.
The final quarter soon petered out to a tame contest as the cause appeared lost for West and North realised the premiership points were in safe keeping.
Davey continues to be almost unstoppable for North, while Egan looks back to her best form from 2017 on the attacking wing.
Close clearly belongs in the top senior grade and North, despite the huge loss of Lisa Fyfe for the season, has some good depth to continue to challenge for the title.
