Kroehn, Gray pressure pays off as Magpies win

IT was a close fight between Merbein and Ouyen United on Saturday, but tough defensive pressure ended up being the defining factor that saw the Magpies take home the Round 1 SFNL netball win.

Merbein took an early lead on the court at Blackburn Oval, positioning themselves ahead of their rivals for the length of the game.

Ouyen United fought hard to cling on to the Magpies and not let them crawl too far ahead, but a few poor shots and messy passes saw them lose opportunities to take the lead.

The game finished with a score of 40 to 32, with Merbein defenders Sophie Kroehn and Johannah Gray essential to the Magpies’ win, applying heavy pressure to Ouyen United’s shooters Catherine Brown and Julia Woodall to keep the opposition score down.

Ouyen United coach Kyra Nathan said Merbein were “impressive” on the court.

“I thought they did really well,” she said.

“Their defence pressure certainly frazzled our girls at the start, they had a really good press and it was nice and loud and we weren’t quite sure how to get through it.”

WD and GS Olivia Bowden said it was great to get a win in the first round and added Merbein’s defence players had allowed the shooters to have more opportunities to score.

She commended Kroehn and Johannah on their joint effort in defence.

“Our defence was doing really good,” she said.

Merbein GA Emily Gray said it was a very physical and fast-paced game.

She said it felt good to get a win in round 1 against last year’s runners up.

“Especially coming out here, it is always tough to play them out here and they are always a great side,” she said.

“Even though they have different players here and there, they have always been a strong side, so it was good to get that win.”

Ouyen United took the court this week without key player Tsharni Burns and with some new faces filling the gaps of last year’s departures.

Nathan said the team had been experimenting with a new combination on the court and would learn from Saturday’s loss.

“We are trialing a few different things as we have lost all of our A Grade goalies from last year,” she said.

“It was a slow start for us but you’ve got to expect that and I thought they came into the game pretty well.”

Nathan said she thought Brown had performed well for the side, stepping out of defence into shooting this season.

“I thought Cat Brown did really well in goals as it was her first time shooting, she tried her heart out,” she said.

“Ellen Morrish in the middle was excellent, she just ran all day she has got a lot of intercepts and linked the court really well. I though Esther Manley down at goal defence was really solid, and to come into GA later in the game, she steadied it for us too.”