Early jump gets Red Cliffs an historic victory

THE drought is over!

A terrific first quarter by Red Cliffs saw them beat Ouyen United in A Grade netball for the first time, winning 56 to 49.

Ouyen have often had great control over their contests with Red Cliffs. Any sense of control was taken by Red Cliffs almost immediately as they raced to an eight goal lead at quarter time on the back of 15 first quarter goals by shooter Zara Copley.

The Parkers and Copley were too smooth and too tall for their opponents in a sensational attacking display for Red Cliffs. Their play was capped off with some fluid shooting from Copley.

Red Cliffs physicality in defence, which did result in one two-minute send off, appeared to rattle the Ouyen attackers. Ouyen would likely be frustrated with some of their missed shots, which took away any momentum in the second half.

Red Cliffs coach Romany Bowen was delighted post-game.

“We are pumped,” she said. “I’m ecstatic. This is just what we have been building for. The consistent work that we have been doing over the off-season and the last 18 months showed today.

“We have gone from working on basic skills and netball smarts last season to now being able to hone in on specific areas. The girls are enjoying being out there and playing free-flowing netball.”

This enjoyment was shown with Copley and Jazmin Parker sharing a few smiles as they could see that their work was going to lead to a special win. Copley was their best player, with defender Francies Naquto also in the best.

Ouyen coach Kyra Nathan lamented their poor start.

“They jumped as at the start and that was probably the difference,” said Nathan.

“We just couldn’t catch them. They shot beautifully all game and we just could not counteract it. Credit to Red Cliffs, they played really well. Their physicality in defence made us hesitate in where we were throwing the ball and question where we were driving to.”

Ellen Morrish and Mel Dyda were Ouyen’s best players.