By Ewen McRae
Woodend-Hesket shot out of the blocks in its Riddell District Netball League A-grade clash with Rockbank and never looked back, grabbing an important win.
While the two sides have had a close rivalry in recent times, the Hawks were far more clinical early as they dominated the scoring to set up an eight goal lead at quarter-time.
While the Rams challenged in the third term, the Hawks proved too strong as they fought out a 50-40 victory.
Woodend Hesket coach Wendy Roberts said some recent games had helped them prepare for the clash, and they carried that form into Saturday’s win.
“The Broadford game the previous week assisted us, because they play a very similar, physical game,” Roberts said.
“We built from that foundation and it all sort of came together for us in this game.
“In the opening minutes we were able to settle into a pretty open and free-flowing game, and we felt like we negated a lot of Rockbank’s threats on goal and through the mid-court.
“Psychologically and physically our game plan was to let Rockbank know we were a better skilled team and a stronger team, so we set the standard I thought.”
The game got off to the perfect start for Hawks fans, as Tara Burnip made full use of her height advantage to nail ten shots in the first term.
With Brittany Bowen controlling the centre of the court and opening up lots of avenues to attack, the Rams struggled to gain possession.
PHOTO GALLERY: Rockbank vs Woodend-Hesket
When they did, Isabelle Maguire was dangerous up front as she kept the hopes of a comeback alive for the hosts.
Things started to click for the Rams in the third quarter as they found some space and attacked with more freedom. Goal attack Rianne Vining scoring eight times to close the gap to just five points entering the final quarter.
But the Hawks were able to steady, with 14 goals in the final term enough to see them take the points.
The win has Woodend Hesket just a game and percentage adrift of the finals, while Rockbank has slipped to ninth on the table.
While the Hawks are on the brink of finals, Roberts said they will lose some players in the coming weeks and would continue to focus on building for the future.
“We’ve got a shooter out for the next four weeks, so we’ll bring up an up-and-coming under-19 player, Emma Cogger, who we’ll settle in there.
“We’ll be looking at internal wins along the way. Emma is only 15, so it will be good experience for her and something for the future.
“I don’t know if we will make finals, but we’ll celebrate our internal wins as a team.”
