HAWKS Netball ended their season with a 58-50 win over the North East Blaze by eight goals. Both just fell short of finals contention but still wanted to end their respective Victorian Netball League (VNL) seasons on a good note.

Last time these two sides met was back in Round Two with the Blaze coming out victorious by 17-goals, quite a different story than what was displayed on court this round just passed.

The season concluded with the Hawks rising up to fifth position on the ladder, just overtaking their Blaze opposition by one win. The Blaze did end this season a bit disappointed, concluding the season with a five game losing streak with one of those a draw.

A story of two halves was evident with the Hawks defence kicking it up a notch, sending their side to achieve a major 10-goal run half way through the third term, flipping their four-goal deficit at half time to a three-goal lead.

It was the work of Chloe Sinclair and Kirsty Clark rising to the occasion that sent the Hawks into overdrive. A boost of energy allowed them to come out of the main break with a bang, shaking up the Blaze shooters who were very dominant in the first half.

Those said Blaze shooters in the first half were running rings around the Hawks defenders with the main contributor being Georgia Moody (21 goals). Her timing on her pop outs along the baseline and her circle entry were second to none with her connection with Nyah Allen (14) in either shooter positions working well as one would post up and the other would sweep the front of the circle and gain that front position and slot the long range goal which both are capable of.

Blaze were gaining more confidence in their attack line and letting those long feeds go from the transverse line which the Hawks had no answers for.

Kaylia Stanton (49) was again doing the bulk of the shooting for the Hawks, but she was not forced to. She was making herself using her strong holds, dodges and front cuts that were making her free all over the shooting circle. It was also Lorna Clark that was putting Stanton in prime shooting opportunity by turning on the jets, losing her opponent and feeding from deep in the pocket.

Trailing by three goals at three quarter time, the Blaze needed a big final term to come out victors, but ringing plenty of changes at the quarter break did not pay off with the flow falling apart. The Hawks took full advantage and ran out winners by their biggest margin of the game in eight goals.

VICTORIAN NETBALL LEAGUE ROUND 18 RESULTS – CHAMPIONSHIP

Geelong Cougars (74) defeated Peninsula Waves (49)

Wilson Storage Southern Saints (49) defeated by Melbourne University Lightning (61)

City West Falcons (65) defeated Casey Demons (51)

Boroondara Express (66) defeated Ariels (46)

Hawks Netball (58) defeated North East Blaze (50)