AFTER a nail-biting first up loss last week, reigning Victorian Netball League (VNL) champions City West Falcons got their 2024 season back on track during the week with a 72-66 win over the Hawks. The match started tight, but did not end that way as the Falcons shot away in the second term to show their class and take the win.
After a fast start to the match, it was the Falcons were the ones to first take the lead, but it was not a big one initially. Thanks to a stellar intercept from Sophie Hanrahan and a strong partnership up the other end from Uneeq Palavi and Jane Cook, they were eventually able to give themselves a bit of breathing space.
But, as the quarter progressed the Falcons’ passes into attack dropped in quality and Chloe Duke and Lauren Hucker were able to pounce on that for the Hawks and Kaylia Stanton converted truly.
After the Falcons got the margin out to as much as four and the Hawks getting it back down to as low as two, the final margin was three goals in the Falcons’ favour at the first change.
Despite the closeness of the beginning of the match, things took a turn in the second term. The Falcons shot seven of the first eight goals of the quarter to really build themselves a handy buffer, that helped them take a nine-goal lead into the main break.
That was the turning point that the Hawks never recovered from. The lead grew to 11 goals by the time the final break came, and although the Hawks made a comeback in the final term it was not enough.
In other results:
After a Round 1 bye, the North East Blaze got their season off to a positive start with a narrow win over the Southern Saints.
Booroondara made it two from two with a big win over Peninsula Express, while Melbourne University got its season back on track with a win over Casey.
In the final game of the round, the Western Warriors were brought back to earth a little after they were well beaten by the Geelong Cougars.
VNL Championship Round 2 Results
North East Blaze (52) defeated Southern Saints (51)
Boroondara Express (72) defeated Peninsula Waves (39)
Melbourne University Lightning (62) defeated Casey Demons (45)
City West Falcons (72) defeated (66) Hawks Netball
Geelong Cougars (66) defeated Western Warriors (43)
Bye – Bendigo Strikers
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