Rupertswood, finally given the opportunity to see where it sits compared with ladder leaders in the Riddell District League Netball, came away with a convincing 68-27 win.
But it didn’t necessarily provide the Sharks with the test and answers they were expecting.
Macedon, which had a week of off-court drama with the club terminating their coach’s contract, fielded a different outfit on Saturday to the one that tested Riddell the week before.
The Sharks themselves were missing three from their normal squad.
The Cats took a while to get going and the Sharks, with superior mid-court pace, made them pay early.
For the Sharks, Maddison Gay, Ebony Lyons and Ailish McCormack made the most of the turnovers at the defensive end to get the ball to the shooters under the ring. The Sharks’ 20-6 quarter-time lead was an accurate indicator of how the rest of the game would unfold.
It didn’t matter who the Sharks brought on; they were all able to fit straight in and have an impact.
Sharks coach Di McCormack said the key was to shut down star Macedon goalshooter Bec Colwell.
“Kirsten [Daley] and Tess [Abbott] were outstanding in the circle,” she said.
“They worked hard on shutting down Bec. It started in the mid-court and shutting down the feed; the skill and speed of the girls was fantastic.
“I didn’t know who to keep on and who to take off at each break.”
But McCormack said the match didn’t provide them with the test they wanted even as the Sharks move to second on the ladder, switching places with the Cats.
“It wasn’t a good measure,” McCormack said. “We are playing a good standard, but the last few weeks we haven’t been tested.
“It’s good to get these scores … it shows our transition is fast, but we want to compare ourselves against the top sides.”
McCormack is confident the Sharks will “take it to” undefeated Riddell.
However, the coach will miss games while volunteering at the Netball World Cup in Sydney. Assistant coach Katie Clarke will step up while she’s away.
In other results, Romsey defeated Lancefield, Riddell was too good for Sunbury, Diggers Rest won against Rockbank, and Woodend-Hesket got its second win of the season, against Kilmore.
Cats ditch netball coach
Macedon Netball Club is looking to the future after parting ways with its A-grade netball coach last week.
President Terry Kernan said the club terminated Melissa Climas’s services, but he wouldn’t go into details.
“There were various things, including a serious code violation,” he said.
“There were several other issues … we decided as a club we had to move forward.”
Former players Karri Ambler and Kelly Nicholas will coach for the rest of the year. Kernan said that at this stage all but one player would continue to play.
Captain Alexis Climas resigned following Melissa’s sacking.
