Tara Murray
Riddell’s depth has been on show in the opening two rounds of the Riddell District Netball League season.
The Bombers have had a clean sweep of results in the first two rounds, despite several players from their A-grade squad missing
For new coach Emily Ktona it couldn’t have been a much better start.
“We’ve extremely happy,” she said. “It’s been an awesome start and we’ve had different teams in both games.
“We’ve had some players out with the Victorian Netball League, some with injuries and some with nationals.
“We’ve been able to bring up some under-19s and players from B-grade and they’ve stepped up, I’m over the moon.”
The Bombers faced Kyneton on Saturday, with both teams coming off wins in the opening round,
It was the Bombers that remained undefeated, winning 51-40.
While the Tigers are new to the competition, Ktona said they had a little bit of an idea what to expect.
“Claire [Oakley]’s mum used to coach me at Parkville, so it was another full circle moment. I knew that Clarie would be a tough one to stop.
“Lauren Nolan came into the side for her first game after having her third child and provided us with an experienced defender who could play on a tall holding shooter.
“She worked well with Georgia Shattock.
“Tilly Shepherd plays with a lot of our girls at Melbourne University, so we knew that she would be quite tough.
“Shelby [Holter] and Darcy Saunders played really well on her.”
Ktona said being able to call on someone like Nolan was massive for her as a coach. She said Nolan wanted to come back through B-grade, but she needed her to step up into A-grade with a few players missing and she was able to perform.
Saunders topped the goals for the Bombers with 21 as they shared the load around.
For the Tigers, Oakley finished with 24 goals.
Ktona said the most pleasing thing for her was that they still had four or five out of their squad on Saturday.
Eliza Burge is at the national championships along with new recruit Sahara Ball.
Ball’s mum Meredith Ball played in round one and brings plenty of experience having player of her ability.
Meredith, the sister of former Australian player Bec Bulley, has played for the Melbourne Kestrels and plays with Ktona in a weekday competition.
Ruby Shannon is yet to play this season due to breaking her nose in the VNL and Lara Turner also missed the weekend.
The challenges continue this week for the Bombers, facing Wallan before a grand final rematch the week after.
Ktona said it would be a good chance to see where they are at.
In other matches, Wallan also made it two from two, beating Diggers Rest, 61-51.
Romsey got its first win of the season, beating Melton Centrals, while Woodend-Hesket opened its account with a 55-31 win against Macedon.
