GEELONG Cougars got their third win in a row and overtook opponents Boroondara Express with a 15-goal defeat heading into the pointy end of the regular Victorian Netball league (VNL) season.

A strong start by the Cougars quickly set the pace of the 56-41 game with the help of the accurate moving circle which was paying off with more than one option available at the post. They jumped out to a quick seven-goal lead entering the first break and kept Boroondara to single digits for the term.

Brooke Allan was out on the hunt early, tracking the ball early and winning the ball numerous times in the opening minutes. Her rebounding ability was strong in shaking the Express shooters whilst doing a lot of work in attack as a backup on the transverse line when needed.

An unusual performance from Isabelle Hodgeson (23 goals) contributed to the slow burn of the Cougars dominance across the 60 minutes. Her 67 percent accuracy was extremely low compared to how she has been performing this season playing majority of the Express’ minutes back in goal shooter.

Defensive pressure around the outside of the circle from Casey Adamson prevented the score blowing out to an unachievable amount, keeping Express in the contest ahead of a big second half after an equal second quarter and continued to trail by seven-goals, 29 – 22.

Express started the second half with a bang, finding the middle of the ring the first six times and stopping the Cougars from scoring for the first five minutes while closing the margin to just one goal.

The Cougars’ court craft in attack was too slick for the Express defenders to stop with them sighting both shooters under the post in Zanna Woods (27) and Emma Buwalda (24) with ease. Buwalda’s agility out the front helped free herself for the re-offer to get open as an option under the post or for the dish off to Woods.

In the blink of an eye, the Cougars had packed on 12 more goals compared to Express’ four which seemed as a shock looking at how they opened the third term. Again it was Allan who was winning back in the defensive third where the Cougars were able to convert it down the court and finish it off at the post.

Boroondara were winning a lot of ball back in the second half, but they were unable to convert off of those turnovers which proved to be costly as the Cougars pulled away to a handy nine-goal lead ahead of the last break.

The fourth was a cut and paste of the third, Cougars too good for whatever Express was throwing at them as they broke away to the game high 15-goal lead, solidifying their presence in finals in the next few weeks.

The Cougars will face the North East Blaze as they want to keep their finals hopes alive, whereas Express will look for a comfortable win over the Casey Demons and take back second position on the ladder.

VICTORIAN NETBALL LEAGUE ROUND 15 RESULTS – CHAMPIONSHIP

Casey Demons (74) defeated Ariels (53)

Melbourne University Lightning (62) defeated Peninsula Waves (55)

City West Falcons (71) defeated North East Blaze (54)

Hawks Netball (65) defeated Wilson Storage Southern Saints (48)

Geelong Cougars (56) defeated Boroondara Express (41)