Gisborne was able to weather illness, holidays and injury to come away with an important win against Kyneton in the Bendigo Netball League on Saturday.
The Bulldogs were already without Melbourne Vixens training partner Jordan Cransberg, but were hit with a further blow with Claudia Mawson hurting her ankle the previous round and a number of other players out across all the grades.
Despite this and with a completely different shooting circle, they were able to beat local rivals, the Tigers, 43-37.
Bulldogs coach Tarryn Rymer said it had been a bit of struggle across all the grades with numbers on Saturday.
“We were just grateful to get the win,” she said. “The weekend was a tough one and we were short across all the grades with school holidays, sickness and people away.
“Our under-17s had five players and we had to shuffle things to get on the court.”
In the A-grade side, the Bulldogs were without Cransberg and Mawson, while Rhylee Connell was away at a wedding.
It meant Alexandra Russ and Olivia Floreani had to come up from A-reserve to fill the shooting circle.. For Ross she had only just been promoted to A-reserve having started the season in B-grade.
Rymer said while it took a bit to get used to a different combination the girls did a really good job.
“They were really impressive and made the jump up,” she said. “They were a bit nervous, but I can’t complain about the job they did.”
Rymer said the match itself was a good test, with Kyneton keeping themselves in the game.
“The game could have gone either way,” she said.
“We had our opportunities to put our foot down at times, but Kyneton kept bringing it back.
“We are just happy to get the win.
The win cements the Bulldogs spot in third, with a number of teams not far behind.
Kyneton sits in sixth, but is three and half games outside the top five.
The Bulldogs have a bye this week, with Rymer said it had come at a good time.
The following week they face Castlemaine.
She said they were hoping the Mawson might be back, while Cransberg’s Melbourne Vixen commitments would also be over.
Rymer said they had been hit hard with ankle injuries this year.
“It’s the perfect time for the bye with school holidays.” she said.
The Tigers this week face Strathfieldsaye.
