The Sunbury Lions showed some glimpses of their best netball as they got their Ballarat Netball League premiership dreams back on track.
After a disappointing first finals performance, the Lions were keen to show why they finished minor premiers against Lake Wendouree.
They started well and at half-time looked on track for another preliminary final. The second half they let the foot off the pedal, but still did enough to win 46-43.
Lions coach Adam Boldiston said he was happier than the previous week.
“The first half we were fantastic,” he said. “We executed in the front half and drilled the ball speed and were getting good stops.
“We then went away from it and let them back into the game.
“We went away from our ball speed and they got a run on and we failed to halt them.
“They got the scores back to level.”
The Lions were able to get back in front in the dying minutes. Boldiston said their experience showed through.
He said that Ruth Smith was really good in the first half, while Ash Hardy won quite a lot of ball in defence.
He said they worked well as a team in the first half.
In a plus for the Lions, Tarnee Adams returned from a knee injury.
Boldiston kept Renee Hulls in the starting goal shooter position, before making the switch at three-quarter time.
“Renee did a great job of setting up Ruth,” he said. “She was opening up the circle. She was a little quieter in the third quarter and we just wanted to get Tarnee some game time. She shot some good goals.”
Aila Pera was a bonus inclusion for the side.
The Lions now face East Point in a preliminary final.
Boldiston has one wish.
“If we execute our game like we did in the first half for four full quarters we will be hard to beat.”
The Lions top three netball teams will all play in preliminary finals on Saturday, along with the reserves and under-18.5 footballers.
