By Tara Murray
Romsey got a confidence-building win against Macedon heading into the Riddell District Netball League finals series.
While the Redbacks had already sealed a finals spot, they were yet to beat a team above them.
But that all changed on Saturday as they accounted for Macedon, 41-38.
Redbacks coach Luke Marko Rawlings was thrilled with how the side played, especially in the second half.
“We finally got them,” he said.
“It was one of our goals this season to knock them off. There were good signs to see us take them on and still be in the fight even though we were down early.
“We played through the pressure.”
The Cats, who were without star goaler Chloe Wilson, led by five goals at quarter-time and pushed that to six goals at half-time.
After the break, the Redbacks got back into the game, and pegged the margin back to two goals at three-quarter time.
They were able to over-run the Cats in the final quarter.
Marko Rawlings said their slow starts were something they had to work on.
“It’s something that we need to break,” he said.
“We need to be getting into the netball mindset quicker. The slow starts are evident and then we come home like a freight train.”
He said he set players individual targets to hit in the last quarter, which they all achieved.
He highlighted the work of Danni Jane Umaki in defence and Sally Portbury, in centre, as two who really stood up late.
The result has Romsey sitting fourth heading into the final round. While it is still a chance to move into third, Marko Rawlings was expecting the side to finish fourth.
“We look back at last year and, coming into finals, we hadn’t beaten four of the teams and we made the grand final.”
The battle for the last finals spot will go down to the final round. Rockbank, who beat Melton Centrals, sits two points clear of Riddell. They face Rupertswood and Romsey respectively in the final round.
