BOROONDARA Express put on an absolute clinic during against the North East Blaze, who were left feeling defeated after a 21-goal loss in the Victorian Netball League (VNL).

This week marked the competition’s Pride Round, with trans and pride flags featured on the courts, decals, goal posts, and the players’ bibs in a stunning show of support to the LGBTQIA+ community.

On-court, much of the celebration was done by the second seed Express, who ensured the Blaze would fall out of the top four after the 67-46 result. Olivia Morris fractured her ankle two weeks ago and while her experience is definitely a loss for the side, the connection between Bella Hodgson (52 goals) and Ruby Barkmeyer (15) held firm.

Hodgson performed in the game of her life,  becoming the dominant shooter for Express after sharing the load with Barkmeyer during the first term. Express usually have a very balanced shooting load for the majority of the game, but they carried out a different game plan.

Hodgon’s movement around the goal circle was beautiful and silky. Her timing was impressive, being able to get around her defender at the perfect moment using her dodges and fast footwork while showing off some off the post passes.

For the Blaze, Georgia Moody (22) was their constant in attack, shooting the majority of her side’s goals whilst also doing a lot of the feeding. The Blaze looked more comfortable when Moody was in her usual position in goal attack, as she knew when she needed to switch between putting up the shots or fading back a little bit and filling in the gaps when giving the ball to either of her other shooters.

Defence for the Blaze was pick and choosey, as they were only able to get one hand to the ball and Kaitlyn Black was the only Blaze player who was able to get two hands to the ball and turn the rebounds and deflections into gains for her side.

The Boroondara players were always the first one to the loose balls and they were able to convert them down the other end. A comfortable half court pass from Barkmeyer into Hodgon after a turnover summed up the game for Express as they felt as though they could throw any pass and Hodgson would be able to pull it in.

It was a battle for Blaze down the attacking end, as they struggled to get enough depth on second phase, which made it hard to convert on turnovers and score on their centre passes. They were also forced to make a lot of lateral passes on their attacking transverse line as no one was punching up the middle channel with the Express defenders on the prowl.

The attack for Boroondara was nearly impossible to beat with the shooter to shooter connection being too good to stop with each player already knowing where others were going to be, and the pressure in defence causing the Blaze to make uncharacteristic mistakes to turn the ball over. There were moments for the Blaze where they were winning the ball back and were able to score thanks to their long range shooting.

City West Falcons continue on their winning ways with a dominant display over the Casey Demons, having a similar story to the Wilson Storage Southern Saints overcoming the Peninsula Waves. Hawks Netball just fell short to the Geelong Cougars as the Melbourne University Lightning just scraped by the Ariels to take the win.

VICTORIAN NETBALL LEAGUE ROUND 9 RESULTS – CHAMPIONSHIP

Casey Demons (55) defeated by City West Falcons (76)
North East Blaze (46) defeated by Boroondara Express (67)
Hawks Netball (46) defeated by Geelong Cougars (49)
Peninsula Waves (50) defeated by Wilson Storage Southern Saints (74)
Ariels (49) defeated by Melbourne University Lightning (49)