THE Victorian Netball League (VNL) made a one day only return on Wednesday night, with the competition going ahead on a rare weekday night between lockdowns before the state snapped back into lockdown on Thursday evening. Four huge clashes got away though, with significant results and missing faces on court setting the tone during a huge Round 11 of action, as Southern Saints and Peninsula Waves sat out another week.

City West Falcons (62) defeated Hawks Netball (45)

City West Falcons have asserted themselves at the top of the VNL ladder with another impressive four quarter outing and downing the Hawks by 17 goals. While the Hawks certainly took it to the Falcons early, the ‘Battle of the Birds’ was not without a huge second half from the ladder-leading team to assert dominance and take flight throughout the midsection of the game. While the Hawks came in hunting they just could not stick with the Falcons for the full four quarters as City West came away with the 62-45 victory.

A huge battle waged between Jane Cook and Clare Johnson throughout the match with Johnson determined and relentless in her pursuit to disrupt Cook’s ability to receive the ball as Chloe Sinclair and Sally Deller worked hard to deny Maddie Gray or Tahnysha Salanoa any easy purchase within the goal circle. Emma Walters and Alex Salter provided a huge clash in both centre and wing attack, each both adding a bit of excitement to their respective front ends and able to assert themselves on circle edge, with the Falcons also seeing Montana Holmes added to the fray and Hawks’ newfound North Melbourne AFL Women’s player Jasmine Ferguson working hard through the midcourt. While Cook and Gray held ground at one end, it was down to Nat Billings and Tayla Shannon at the other end for the Hawks with the two working well in tandem to share the defensive attention of the in-form Zoe Davies and Melissa Oloamanu, as Soli Ropati worked hard to wreak havoc for the Falcons up against both Salter and Emma Allman.

Ariels (46) defeated by Boroondara Express (63)

Boroondara Express put on a clinic when they took on the Ariels, edging out an early six-goal lead before adding to that tally consistently as the match went on. While the Ariels appeared to have the early lead in the opening minutes, Express were patient and chipped away at the ledger with a huge 19-10 second quarter setting the tone. A better final quarter from the Ariels saw them really take it to the Express to test them to the very end, but Boroondara were just too strong, pulling through to dominate the contest 63-46.

There was no doubt that the Express lynchpin of Uneeq Palavi was always going to be a significant challenge for the Ariel, with the holding goal shooter tested early but proving too light on her feet and too strong on the hold to deny possession. Steph Gorrie and Isabelle Hodgson both provided viable options in the goal circle as the Ariels were forced to turn over the bibs multiple times with Monique Clark, Jessica Maher, Brodie Smith, and Alice Paget all finding plenty of court time in the last line of defence. At the other end Stacey Gannon and Olivia Morris were the main contributors with the side still missing Rahni Samason and not quite having the depth to cover her loss, as Maddison Wallmeyer worked in overdrive to propel ball into the circle. To their credit though Gannon and Morris made Michelle Massarany and Sophie Shoebridge work hard to create turnover ball as Ariels’ Monique Tarrant and Dionne Douglas and Boroondara’s Casey Adamson and Elli Leydin went head to head through the centre at times. Elsewhere Zali Anderson was impactful for Express with Ariels’ Brooke Goldsmith also changing positions a couple of times to contend with Express’ depth through the mid-court.

North East Blaze (41) defeated by Geelong Cougars (57)

It is safe to say that the Blaze lacked firepower in their clash with Geelong Cougars, with their main goaling contributor this season in Nyah Allen missing in action and the Cougars more than happy to fire away at the scoreboard. While the Blaze still put in an impressive effort especially in that first quarter, keeping in touch with the Cougars, they were unable to consistently provide the offensive pressure to keep the scores tight with the Cougars running away with an 18-goal third quarter and not looking back.

All four Geelong goalers took the court, with the reliable combination of Zanna Woods and Julia Woolley starting in the goal circle and facing a fired up Tayissa Coppinger and Ruby Turner. But the Cougars’ depth, able to add in both Poppy Douglas and Bridgette Furphy to the fray, made them hard to deny in the goal circle especially with the impressive ability of both Emily Post and Madi Browne to find their goalers within the circle and evade the defenders’ long arms. Vanessa Augustini, Kaitlyn Sheringham and Ruby Pekin-Schlicht also found their way into the midcourt positions for Geelong, with Blaze’s Alex Moody, Meg Williams, Chloe Lambert and Ella Bayliss unable to hold up against the onslaught. Abigail Gedge, Georgia Moody and Mia Sudomirski all provided solid options within the Blaze circle despite the lack of Allen’s pizzazz, but suffered from the constant smothering pressure of both Brooke Allan and Victoria Honner, with both defenders playing out a full game and relentless throughout the 60 minutes.

Melbourne University Lightning (69) defeated Casey Demons (37)

While many could have expected this matchup between the Lightning and the Demons to be a close finish, from the starting whistle there was something very evident about this game; was the lack of Emma Ryde in the Demons goal circle. While the Demons were able to keep up with Lightning early on, some significant early turnovers set the tone in the opening quarter as Melbourne Uni showcased just what they were capable of. A 19-10 opening term was the kicker as the Demons stayed within touch for parts of the contest but were just unable to work their way back into contention eventually going down by 32 goals.

Despite the Demons missing Ryde the Lightning came out with a point to prove and did not relent throughout all four quarters. Every single player put their body on the line and earned court time as the Cransberg sisters Jordan and Zoe fired early through the midcourt as Shae Brown, Kelsey Rainbow and Maddie Stewart in her 150th game proved too good for Casey. The rotation of midcourters saw constant fast feet from the Lightning, while it was a different story for the Demons with Kassidy Withers, Emma Thompson and Shannon Freeman earning the starts and quickly seeing plenty of rotations through that middle third. Sharni Lambden started strong for the Demons down back and effectively rotated her way up the court, finishing out the match in centre, while to their credit Tahlia Coates and Sacha McDonald put in a solid effort to post. At the other end Mikaela Vaughan and Claudia Mawson were relentless to post and consistently evaded the defensive efforts of the Demons.

Picture credit: Netball Victoria