WEST GAMBIER v SOUTH GAMBIER
SOUTH Gambier A Grade netballers could not be heading to Malseed Park at a worse time.
West Gambier was undefeated until Round 11 and now has suffered back-to-back losses to North Gambier and Millicent.
Experienced coach Lisa McGregor, her co-coach and shooting star Sarah Ritter, along with defensive general Amy Cram will not be panicking, but look to iron out the wrinkles in the lead up to finals.
It means the Demons can expect a strong start from the Roos this weekend and that all starts with a suffocating, all-court defence.
Cram and Mikaela Horrigan will deny time and space to the shooting combination of Ash Widdison and Gracie Dalton and the mid court will also be under pressure from the work of Tara Bryant and Chelsea Tremelling, who will look to force errors on the feed.
It means patience and smarts will be the order of the day for South as it looks to find a way through for Teresa Humphris, who is coming off her best month of netball, along with fellow mid courters Tully McShane, Megan Reid and Sophie Wight.
That mid court will also have to focus strongly on applying their own pressure when they do not have the ball.
Moving the ball with speed is a trademark of West’s and if it can get that game going, Demons’ circle defenders Mykaela Thiele and Ellie Bouchier will have no hope of slowing the scoring.
Despite the shocking conditions last weekend, Ritter and McGregor finished with impressive accuracy and in 2024 have been sharing the shooting responsibilities more than ever.
Give them enough opportunities and the scoreboard will tick over – and tick over quickly.
South matched North for the second and fourth quarters on the weekend but cannot afford any lapses at all if they hope to stay in touch with West.
Unfortunately for the Demons, this could well be a masterclass from the Roos.
