East Gambier 62 d Casterton Sandford 22
REIGNING premier East Gambier is nothing if not resilient, as the side bounced back from its Round 7 Western Border netball loss to South with a comprehensive victory over Casterton Sandford.
The 40-goal triumph was an impressive result as the Bulldogs had three of their starting seven sidelined.
With no Amryn Bosko or Sarah Lock, the usual A Reserve shooting combination of Renee Henke and Casey Horrigan took to the A Grade court.
Both had already filled in a couple of times this season and they got the job done.
Their opening quarter of 15 goals from 18 attempts set the tone for the contest as they received good supply from Kate Dempsey and Emily Hunter.
Captain Tarsh McCallum was the other starter left on the sidelines as she took the opportunity to rest her legs ahead of a half marathon the following day.
For the Cats a lack of supply was the issue and despite the hard running of Scarlett Jarrad, the half-time deficit sat at 21 goals.
Casterton Sandford injected the fresh legs of Chloe Foster for the third quarter but it turned out to be the Bulldogs’ best and put the result beyond doubt.
Henke and Horrigan were unstoppable, netting 20 from 22 to ice the game early.
Cats defenders Caeleigh Humphries and Ebany Jarrad did their best to deny the East shooters time and space.
However, the persistent and strong feeding from Hunter proved too much as she continued to find Henke and Horrigan in good shooting position.
In the end, the 40-goal margin elevated East back into the top four.
They will hope the second half of the season brings some continuity, as the Bulldogs are yet to put their preferred seven out on court for any length of time in 2022.
