IT wasn’t quite water polo, but it something close to it at John James Oval.
Heavy rain poured down the entire A Grade contest between Robinvale Euston and Irymple, turning the netball court into a wading pool, ensuring both teams a battle against the elements as well as their opponents.
The Swallows made the most of their opportunities in a slower-paced contest, taking the win 52-33 to remain well entrenched inside the top three.
Victorious coach Sherrie Geister admitted the game was “out of the ordinary”.
“It rained the whole match time and the court was drenched, it definitely wasn’t a normal game of netball,” she said.
“As Shelby Trigg pointed out, people said to her come up and play in Mildura, it will be warm and sunny … it wasn’t that way this weekend! There’s been a few wet and and cold days this season.
“They definitely slowed the game down and we couldn’t move at our normal speed, so we had to be reliant on pinpoint passing.”
Geister said they took the opportunity to swing a few changes, with young defender Keita McKee playing the majority of the match and making an impression alongside Elyce Kempton.
Retired Mildura Heat star Vanessa Power also had claims to best-on-court honours after a strong performance.
“They had a really taller shooter so Keita did a great job against her,” Geister said.
“Vanessa Power too in the wet conditions played really well. She taking on a lot of what we’re trying to teach from a netball perspective and she was great.”
Geister said it was a great feeling to still be in the top three but her side wouldn’t take upcoming matches against Red Cliffs, Imperials and Merbein lightly.
“It’s great to be in the top three, we maybe let a couple of games slip so far but you live and you learn,” she said.
“We tend to play better against the stronger teams and not so well against those we should beat, so hopefully we can play positive netball and secure these results.”
Young shooter Ana Filimone and defender Shakira Hingano featured in the Eagles’ best players.
