THE Bendigo Strikers have won their second match of the VNL after defeating fellow new side the Western Warriors 60 goals to 45.

A quick start to the game set up the win for the Strikers, who just kept building on their lead as the game progressed and fended off everything the Warriors threw at them.

Bendigo broke the Waves’ centre on the very first pass after Charlotte Sexton’s height advantage in defence came in real handy, and Teal Hocking converted up the other end. They then held their first centre pass to take the early lead.

That quick start meant that the lead was the Strikers’ for much of the first quarter, and a strong defensive performance for the Strikers meant the Warriors could not close the gap and the Strikers’ lead continued to grow.

Despite the Waves having the more renowned shooting combination of Julia Wooley and Kim Borger, Heather Oliver and Ruby Turner were really cutting off the Waves’ attempts to feed the attacking third at the transverse line, and setting up plenty of attacking opportunities for the Strikers.

The margin quickly got out to double digits, and ultimately sat at that 10 goals in favour of the Strikers at the first change.

The status quo was maintained through the first half of the second quarter as the margin continued to hover around the 10 goal mark. The Warriors were able to briefly go on a bit of a run and get the margin down to eight goals, before the Strikers regained control and brought the margin back up to double digits.

The Warriors then found some rhythm and picked up some more defensive turnovers, and as such reduced the margin down to six goals as the went into the main break.

Both teams again traded goals to start the third term, but then the Strikers went on a three goal run to change momentum a little.

What the Warriors really struggled with was getting runs of goals on the board. The Strikers were able to get several two to three goal runs on the board in the back half of the third quarter, while the Warriors could only manage that once. This saw the margin bridge out to 12 at the final change.

The Strikers jumped out to a quick start in the final term, scoring the first three goals.

Although the Warriors did fight back with a three goal run of their own, it was for no reward as the Strikers had another three goal run three minutes later.

That was ultimately the final nail in the coffin as the teams traded goals to see out the game and hand the Strikers their second win of the year.

In other results last night, the North East Blaze and Melbourne Uni had narrow wins, while the City West Falcons and Boroondara Express flexed their muscles with some big wins.

VNL Championship Round 7 Results

Peninsula Waves (34) lost to City West Falcons (85)

North East Blaze (55) defeated Hawks Netball (53)

Boroondara Express (57) defeated Geelong Cougars (42)

Melbourne Uni (58) defeated Southern Saints (54)

Western Warriors (45) lost to Bendigo Strikers (60)

Bye – Casey