The Mildura Demons handed out a netball lesson to the Kangas in a dominant second half. The Kangas stayed within striking distance in the first half but Mildura played some of their best netball after the main break.
Mildura coach Ellie Vincent was all smiles post game.
“We know it’s always going to be a physical game with Ouyen and we prepared for that,” she said.
“We wanted to play our game today and focus on what benefits us, which we did.”
Despite the convincing win, Vincent still sees room to grow for her Demons.
“We’re still finding our feet,” she said. “We are focusing on calming our ball movement as we often seem hurried. We are finding our groove and fitting new pieces into our team.”
Mildura had young star Ava Zadow return after missing the start of the season and she made an instant impact from GD.
“Ava absolutely stood up for us with Sharon (Watson) out,” Vincent said.
“She works so hard in defence and her voice and direction were fantastic back there.”
Zadow was their best, with fellow defender Millie Seward also contributing strongly.
Vincent feels lucky to have leaders like Jess McNamara, who shot 38 goals, in her team to support her coaching.
“Her presence and direction on court is calming for us and I love playing alongside her,” she said. “As a player-coach you miss things in the heat of the game so having her guidance is a massive help for me.”
Ouyen were missing key players in Catherine Brown and Tsharni Burns but were delighted to have Maggie Smith back from Ballarat. The young star shot 25 of Ouyen’s 33 goals. Ellen Morrish was ever reliable for the Kangas with her drive in the mid-court. Ouyen tried many combinations, utilising 10 players, but struggled against a very settled Mildura line-up.
There were positives in the first half for the Kangas, who only trailed by four goals at half time.
“We stuck to our processes in the first half and committed to having quick ball speed,” said coach Kyra Nathan.
“In the second half we got a bit lazy and didn’t do the hard work to drive to the top of the circle. Our defensive transition was really poor, so we didn’t give our defenders a chance to intercept.”
Nathan was impressed by her Demon opponents.
“Mildura put the foot down and they were fast, had great footwork and had good ball speed,” she said.
“They shot very accurately too.”
Mildura 57 d Ouyen United 33
BEST: Mildura: Ava Zadow, Milli Seward. Ouyen United: Maggie Smith, Ellen Morrish.
