IN this week’s Victorian Netball League (VNL) Round 8 Match of the Round, Hawks Netball were far too strong for Casey Demons, winning by 18 goals, 64–46.

A dominant third quarter in particular really set up the win, and they were able to maintain it in the last and capitalise on the scoreboard. There were a number of misses up both ends early, but it was the Hawks to raced to a four-goal lead.  

The Hawks were very quick in their pass progression into their attacking third, whereas the Dees were more risky with their passes, and it was not paying off for them.

Kaylia Stanton and Tayla Shannon were working really well together in the goal circle for the Hawks, while the Dees were relying on Emma Ryde a little too much to shoot all their goals, with the Hawks defenders playing in front and able to intercept the ball far too easily.

Hawks Netball held the lead for the vast majority of the quarter, and although the Dees did bring it back to within one, the quarter time margin sat at three in favour of the Hawks.

The Hawks got the much better start in the second term, and had doubled their lead within the opening few minutes of the quarter. It was fairly even and goal for goal in the middle part of the quarter, but Casey began to chip away at the margin and bring it back down again.

However, it was all in vain though as the Hawks extended their margin back out again towards the back end of the term. Momentum was really in the Hawks’ corner as the quarter drew to a close, and at half-time the margin was nine in favour of the Hawks.

One of the Hawks’ best in the first half was Clare Johnson, who kept Ryde really quiet and ensured she did not have as much of an impact as she might have had otherwise.

Meanwhile for Casey, despite having a severe height disadvantage against the rest of the shooting circle, Sinead Lumsden was getting a lot of rebounds and was not afraid to shoot from distance. Despite being held well, Ryde did still manage to shoot the bulk of Casey’s goals.

The third quarter was all Hawthorn. Momentum was all theirs as they dominated the term and their lead benefitted from it. They stretched their lead out to as much as 15 goals during the quarter, with Casey continuing to make the same mistake of not giving enough power in their passes over the top to Ryde.

As the teams turned for home, the margin was 17 in favour of the Hawks. It was a fairly even, goal for goal start to the final term, which was not good news for the Dees who could not eat much into the large deficit.

However as the quarter dragged on, the Hawks reasserted their dominance and stretched their lead out even further. In the end the Hawks were able to prove their dominance they had shown all match, winning by 18 goals.

In other results, Peninsula Waves had a comfortable win over Boroondara Express, the Geelong Cougars got the win over the Saints, the North East Blaze got the win over Melbourne Uni Lightning and the City West Falcons thrashed the Ariels.

VNL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 8 RESULTS

Hawks Netball (64) defeated Casey Demons (46)
Boroondara Express (45) lost to Peninsula Waves (58)
Geelong Cougars (52) defeated Wilson Storage Southern Saints (46)
North East Blaze (69) defeated Melbourne Uni Lightning (50)
City West Falcons (81) defeated Ariels (39)