IRYMPLE rebounded from their shock one-goal home-court loss to Imperials the previous week to comfortably account for Merbein in their SFNL A Grade encounter at Kenny Park courts on Saturday.
The Swallows jumped out to an early lead and continued to build on that to claim an impressive 58-44 victory over a Magpie side that also harbours finals ambitions this year.
The wayward passing and inconsistent shooting of the week before were reduced substantially as Irymple improved their record to 3-1 on the new season – much to the relief of coach Sherrie Geister.
“That was a much better performance today and I am very happy,” Geister said. “What stood out the most was that we played as a team and we played for each other and that was the best part of it and was fantastic to watch.
“They weren’t happy about last week’s performance, as much as I wasn’t, and they brought their A-game today.
“We still have so much to learn and work on and we didn’t run that game out. We’ve got to play four solid quarters. We did win every quarter, but I think they got a little bit flat towards the end and decided they were up by enough.”
It’s only four games into the season, for most teams, but Merbein coach Breigh Hammet understands her 1-3 team will have to turn around its fortunes soon to stay in touch with the competition’s pacesetters.
“I thought we contested really well and controlled and moved the ball well at times,” Hammet said. “I think our girls just dropped their heads a little bit and that allowed Irymple to get the bounce and get a couple of points ahead and from then it was hard for us to catch up.
“Today we were just a bit quiet on the court which is quite unusual. It was a bit of a blip and we’ll come out next week and they will be fine. I think there were more positives than negatives that came out of today’s game.”
Shelby Trigg, who snared a bottle of wine for her efforts, and Irymple teammate Mackenzie Ryan were nominated the victor’s best while Stephanie White and Emily Gray claimed the honours for Merbein.
