IT was wins all around for the Tigers at Compound Accounting Park as Red Cliffs’ A Grade netball team beat second on the ladder Merbein by seven goals in SFNL action on Saturday.
Red Cliffs must have eaten their Weetbix before the game and during the first quarter their bigger physicality showed.
Zara Copley and Jazmin Parker stood tall in attack while Yelena Richardson and the Naqutos held their own in defence.
Morna Naquato has a powerful pass and a lot of them landed within the goal ring which helped the Tigers be four goals up at the end of the quarter.
Merbein brought on pocket rocket Tasharni Quinlivan in the second quarter and she slotted in well to goal attack.
Emily Gray went to goal shooter and Quinlivan went neck-and-neck with Naquto in goal defence.
Red Cliffs kept scoring and while the Magpies keeper Kieta McKee got a few handy rebounds she wasn’t tall enough to negate Copley in goal attack as merbein were still down by six goals at half-time.
Tigers coach Romany Bowen used the break to tell her players to keep calm as they had only made two real mistakes in the second quarter.
After play restarted centre Jacqulyn Bell took this onboard with some strong defensive moves resulting in the first two goals of the third quarter going to Red Cliffs.
The Tigers made some unforced errors towards the end of the term which saw Merbein come within two goals.
Johannah Gray was matching up well with Copley, however, the Magpies were still five goals in arrears at the last change.
During the last quarter Merbein were down to six players as McKee came off momentarily.
Quinlivan was again lively up forward and got the Magpies to within three goals but Red Cliffs were too strong, running out winners by seven goals.
Bowen said her players do a lot of work outside of training resulting in the extra physical and mental strength they showed on Saturday.
“The lead going into the last quarter wasn’t good so we just focussed on staying mentally strong and keeping our eye on the prize,” she said.
“We showed good composure. We are also blessed with the two girls in attack and they’re getting stronger and stronger each week”.
Red Cliffs were seventh on the league ladder before yesterday’s win with Bowen explaining she took time over last weekend’s bye to reassess the season.
“Apart from Wentworth anyone could finish second,” she said.
“All of us are on the hunt for these top positions.”
