Macedon has stamped itself as the Riddell District Netball League pacesetters, with a win against Romsey on Saturday.
Both teams entered the match undefeated – Romsey as the star-studded side which has impressed everyone in the early rounds; the Cats having only played one team in the top six, so questions remained whether they could match it with the top sides.
On Saturday, the Cats showed everybody they mean business, taking a control of the match after quarter-time.
Opening up a six-goal lead at half-time, they never lost the lead on the way to a 52-47 win.
Macedon coach Ciara Stewart said the team had been looking forward to challenging itself against the top sides.
“We knew this would give us a proper idea of where we were in the standings,” she said.
“I thought if we could play a really good game I’d be happy. Once we were in the lead early I thought we were a chance.
“We played four quarters of solid quality netball. We were really patient.”
The two sides played a very different game. The Cats played just seven players, while the Redbacks made multiple changes each quarter to try to find the right mix.
Stewart said playing just seven players and only having eight players to choose from, was a blessing.
“We only had eight players available and two of them were fill-ins,” she said. “Consistency was a key for us. They kept making changes all game and calling injury time-outs and we just kept doing what we were doing.
“Everyone was on song.”
Chloe Wilson shot 29 goals from 41 attempts. Stewart was thrilled with the performance of Tara Burnip who shot 23 goals, missing just two shots.
Hope Evans shot 28 goals from 30 attempts for the Redbacks.
The Cats are now a game clear on top of the ladder, and Romsey slipped to third behind Lancefield.
Both sides have a bye this weekend, with no games across the Queen’s Birthday weekend. Stewart said she would prefer to have a match this week.
“I don’t think it’s overly effective,” she said.
“We’re just finding rhythm. Saturday was the first real test for Katie [Clarke] and Janelle [Birch] together in defence and they will keep going better.
“We’re yet to have our full team available for a whole game. We’ve still got matches against Melton Centrals, Lancefield and Diggers Rest, so we need as much court time together.”
In other matches, results went as expected.
Lancefield was too good for Diggers Rest, Riddell returned to the winners’ list with a win against Rockbank, Rupertswood smashed Sunbury Kangaroos, while Melton Centrals defeated Woodend-Hesket.
