IN last night’s Victorian Netball League (VNL) action, close results were hard to find as those who emerged victorious did so by quite comfortable margins.

That was no different in the match of the round between the Hawks and Boroondara Express, with the Express winning 59 to 49.

The first quarter of that clash was one of swinging momentums.

It was a very even first five to six minutes, with both sides trading blows. It was also a free flowing game, with no turnovers and both sides opening up the court, not afraid to use long passes.

That was until Casey Adamson managed to sneak an intercept in for the Express and they were able to convert from it to finally break the on centre pass run that had started the game.

The Express went on a bit of a run and extended their lead out to as much as three goals, before the Hawks came back, eliminated the lead and built a lead of their own of about a similar margin.

However, that was not the end of the story for the quarter as the Express regained their lead and took a four-goal buffer into the first break.

The intensity really lifted in the second term, and with that came an increase in the number of turnovers from both sides.

The Express extended their lead out even further before a resurgent Hawks saw the margin back down to two goals.

For the Express, Taylah Brown was playing well in wing defence before getting injured and having to be subbed out with about five minutes to go in the quarter. Thankfully for the Express her injury ultimately proved to not be too serious and she was able to return to the court later in the match.

The Hawks did get things back to within a goal, but the Express got it out to three goals by the time the half time siren went.

For the Hawks in that quarter, Jasmine Ferguson achieved some nice intercepts, while both sets were shooting really well and working well as a pair up each end – that being Isabelle Hodgson and Ruby Barkmeyer for the Express, and Kaylia Stanton and Tayla Shannon for the Hawks.

The Express got a great start to the second half, and suddenly they had a six goal buffer to their name.

However, the Hawks then rallied and got within one goal of their opponents.

The Hawks never quite caught up to the Express during the quarter but they certainly kept pace with their more fancied opponents. At the final change the margin was a mere single goal.

The Express got off to the quick start in the final term, but the Hawks pulled it back and finally drew level about five minutes in.

It really took until the back half of the final term for the Express to really assert their dominance on the match, and they ultimately ran away with the match to earn themselves a 10-goal win.  

In other results, Melbourne University jumped into second spot with a 10-goal win over Peninsula, while the Ariels are still searching for their first win of the season after they were comfortably defeated by the Southern Saints. Casey caused a bit of an upset when they downed the North East Blaze, while the top of the table clash saw the Geelong Cougars take down the City West Falcons for the second time this season.

VNL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 13 RESULTS

Melbourne University Lightning (66) defeated Peninsula Waves (56)
Hawks Netball (49) defeated by Boroondara Express (59)
Ariels (54) defeated by Wilson Storage Southern Saints (62)
North East Blaze (61) defeated by Casey Demons (75)
City West Falcons (53) defeated by Geelong Cougars (68)