Round 13
Winchelsea Blues (16) Vs Thomson (47)
We knew we were in for a tough game today as we found it hard to match Thomson in Round 2 being beaten by 27 goals.mOur aim was to play our pace and to keep our margin to a minimum if the same thing was going to happen.
We took the court with a positive attitude after our warm up, we started off losing the first opportunity to shoot with Thomson shooting the first 2 goals. Paz started in GS and only had 2 shooting opportunities missing them both, her GK was playing front and had her eyes up. Paz needed to move in the ring more and not be so concerned about the wet ground.
Holly didn’t have the best start to the game after being unwell for the past 2 weeks, she was getting the centre passes but was finding the movement in the ring a little tough as her defender was playing a tight game contesting every ball. Holly had 6 shooting attempts but unfortunately only converted 2. Only shooting 2 goals from 8 attempts compared to Thomson’s 9 goals and missing 5, was not a great start to the score line. We were not getting opportunities to shoot as Thompsons defenders were reading the play well and we were getting caught out throwing bad passes which 2 from Holly, 2 from Dee, and 1 from Amanda C.
Amanda and Dee were combining well from the centre pass and their change of speed down the court was great but our options into the ring were not the best, we were forcing the ball in and not being patient enough, we needed to talk more and reset back to allow the shooters find a better position in the goal circle.
Claire R started in WD, she played really well in this position last week, so I thought she deserved another run with the defenders guiding her, she tipped the ball 6 times in the first half, these were mainly from the centre pass as she was quick enough off the line but didn’t manage to get both hands to the ball enough to pull them in. She was not afraid to contest and have a go for the ball. Claire was only penalized once with a contact in the first half.
Alisha and Abbey defended in the ring together with Alisha back in GK and Abbey in GD, our jobs were to play one on one netball and stick to our own opponents. Both of our opponents were tall and agile. Once the ball was fed into the ring, Alisha and Abbey were not tall enough to even tip the ball. They felt the pressure from the pushing and shoving when the shooters were holding which was not getting called. We lacked a tight WD and GD to attempt to cut the ball off before it hit the ring and Alisha did not come out for any intercepts out of the ring as if she left her player the ball would have been fed straight to the tall GS. This is no excuse and she could have attempted a few.
The second quarter we scored 6 goals to Thomsons 16. It is sad to say that we got smashed all the way down the court, we were not applying any defence pressure at all and it was too easy for Thomson to convert goals. Nellie came on the court in GS, Paz came off and Alisha and Abbey swapped. We threw away passes, were not coming forward for the ball and no talk or direction was happening from anyone. Nellie and Holly were combing in the ring well, Nellie was holding strong in the ring directing to Amanda and Dee exactly where she wanted the ball. This was a better quarter than the first for scoring attempts but not enough to catch up.
At half time we were down by 17, we knew we were not going to be able to turn the game around but we could definitely attempt to work on minimizing the margin.
Paz went back on into GS and Nellie moved into GA giving Holly a rest. The rest of the team stayed the same as we only had Halleshia on the bench but had just played a full game in D grade.
Another dismal quarter with only scoring 4 from 5 attempts, we were not even getting the ball into the ring to be able to attempt to score, we were letting Thomson’s defenders control our movement, they were dictating where we ran and were still reading the play well. We were not switched on and were not adjusting to the umpires calls or each other. We lost our voices and were not directing any play or using the initiative to control the game. Alisha took 2 intercepts, and Abbey 1 but unfortunately there was no one to lead and receive the ball down the court, we got caught out standing waiting for the ball to enter our hands.
The last quarter Alisha came off and Halleshia took her bib. Nellie moved into GS and Holly came back on in GA. We needed to try something as the margin had blown out to 24 goals. We needed to find some enthusiasm and all be accountable for our positions, we were heavily penalized by one umpire earlier but we needed to keep our heads up and adjust to the calls even if we didn’t agree with them.
Our goal accuracy was dismal with Nellie shooting 3 from 7 and Holly 1 from 5. For the game we missed 18 shots, if we had have converted goals, we could have minimized the margin.
We need to work out our pace down the court against better teams who apply more pressure, we need to be able to handle the pressure that is applied on us and fight for the ball. We cannot expect the ball is going to fall into our hands without working hard for it.
Overall, our goal accuracy has let us down again, our movement in the ring and combining with WA and C needs to improve. The team threw a total of 14 ineffective passes, we tipped the ball 22 times but did not follow the ball for it to be in our possession. We did not offer enough back up down the court and applied enough defensive pressure.
We have learnt that we need to be accountable for ourselves on court and expect the pressure from the better teams.
Goal accuracy
Amanda P – 2 / 2 = 100% - Goal achieved
Holly – 5 / 13 = 38% - Goal not achieved
Nellie – 9 / 16 = 56%- Goal not achieved
Best players: - Really tough this week.
3 – Claire Round 2 – Nellie Wilson 1 – Holly McFarlane
Round 12
Winchelsea Blues (26) Vs Anakie (25)
We last played Anakie in round 1 and beat them by 11 goals. Today’s aim other than win was to improve our goal accuracy and play clean netball applying strong defensive pressure from every player.
Unfortunately Holly became unwell on the way to the game today and was unable to take the court. It was too late to replace her so we played with a strong 9 players.
After Claire having last week off, she was ready to take the court and have a good game, she started in WA along side Amanda C, it took a few minutes to work eachother out, once this happened, they combined really well and got better as the quarter went on. Claire’s speed injected some pace to the game which Amanda knew she needed to step on the pedal and match her. The girls were hitting the ring and were always there ready for a pass back from Paz and Nellie if needed. Dee played WD today using her strength and drive for the ball to mark her player tight.
Alisha and Abbey started strong with a tight one on one defence, only 1 intercept was taken by Alisha but as we were playing a tight defence, we were pressuring our players to turn over the bal. Anakie had 8 goaling opportunities, converting 6, They did not get as many opportunities because of the tight defence down the court enabling us to force a turn over. Paz and Nellie were working the ring well but accuracy was again an issue. Paz shot an extremly low 2/8 (25%) and Nellie 6/12 (50%). This was a concern.
Leading only by 2 goals in the second quarter, we knew we had to improve our goal accuracy in order to capitalise on all the opportunities they were given and taking a healthy lead. Paz and Nellie needed the best position under the ring to take an accurate shot and follow the ball in case of a miss, even if this meant for 6 passes out for a reset. Less than a combined 50% accuracy wil cost us the game.
We turned the ball over 6 times this quarter which allowed Anakie to have 12 scoring opportunities to our 6. Luckly Anakie only converted 6 from their 12 and we shot better with 4 from 6. This inaccuracy from both teams is what put the score line on even at half time.
We fatigued in the second quarter. We all needed to defend down court and make better decisions with our passing by looking down the court first. Paz needed to re adjust and play in front and Nellie needed to make faster drives into the ring but more importantly the goalers needed to improve their accuracy.
Defensively Alisha, Dee and Abbey needed to work out the oppositions timing and adjust their defence accordingly. They needed to be on their toes and keep their eyes up at all times. Abbey was doing a great job on her opponent holding her tight in the goal circle and we needed this to continue but she also needed to keep an eye out and hunt. Dee was hustling her opponent and having a go at intercepts which at times left her exposed so timing was important and because she was assisting at the transverse line , Anakie got a few quick runs out of our shooting end andDee was caught too far down court, this gave them an uncontested pass as they moved the ball down court.
In the third quarter Alisha came off and Halleshia replaced her. Dee moved into WA and Claire into WD. We decided we needed Dee’s voice and direction in our attacking end as it was too quiet and the attackers were lacking that spark. Dee was going to bring that spark and she didnt let us down. Amanda and Dee showed great timing and read the shooters moves very well. The ball was delivered into the ring a total of 18 times but accuracy remained an issue and we missed 9 goals. Continuing to shoot at 50% accuracy.
Moving Claire into WD was a bold move as she is inexperienced in this position at an Open level but with her high level of fitness, she was able to stick tight on her player and come through with a few deflections but her key role to assist attacking down court was invaluable. Abbey and Halleshia worked well together in the ring making sure that they played tight on their own player and trying to keep their eyes up. We need to further develop this combination and have the confidence to hunt for balls around the ring.
We finshed the quarter leading by 3 goals which was an improvement but not enough of a lead to feel comfortable and that the 4 points would be ours.
No changes were made going into the final quarter, Pas we only had two goalers Paz and Nellie kept their position. They were reminded that their job was to shoot accurately and that in order to win this game we needed an improved shooting percentage. The team were told to look after every pass, defend every ball and stay tight in defence. We knew we could take home the 4 points if we worked hard this quarter and finished off.
We defended and applied pressure all down the court, there was only 1 intercept taken in the last quarter but as we had tight one on one defence, the aim wasn't to intercept but to cause a turn over. We had 9 attempts at goals to Anakie’s 8. We shot below 50% again and only scored 5 to Anakie's 7, Lucky we had a lead in the 3rd because this is what won us the game. Nellie needed a time after she took a knock to her back, and there was only 48 seconds left in the game. We were up by 1 goal and Anakie had possession. We had such good defensive pressure in their goal third and they turned over the ball and this gave us the possession we needed. We knew there was only seconds left and had to keep possession, we ran out of time before we had an opportunity to shoot another goal.
We did not win this quarter but we luckily won the game by 1 goal.
Goaling seem to still be our issue but with the introduction of Nellie the ball is being delivered into the ring a little more but we just aren't accurate enough.
Goal accuracy
Paz – 15 / 26 = 57% - Goal not achieved Nellie –11 / 27 = 40% - Goal not achieved
26 goals from 53 attempts - overall team percentage of 49%. Not achieved
Best players:
3 – Danielle Kuchenmeister 2 – Abbey Todd 1 – Amanda Carroll
Round 11
Winchelsea Blues (35) Vs Geelong West (19)
We knew we were in for a good chance to take home the 4 points today as Geelong West had also only won 2 games this season so we were matched well. We didnt have our normal bench with Delle out with an ankle injury, and Holly unwell. JThank you Jackie and Kim T for sitting on the bench for C grade.
We had a strong starting 7 that could do the job and take the 4 points. Our team goal was to score from our attempt and get the first goal on the board. This would bring an intensity to the court and confidence to the team.
Dee and Amanda C started the game with the intensity in the mid court while our defensive line up of Abbey, Alisha and Halleshia were tight on and were getting in their opponents head, this forced them to turn over the ball 6 times. Paz and Nellie shot confidently but were not rewarding the team with accuracy, this was something that improved over the quarter.
8 mins into the second quarter Paz tried to keep a ball in play but it hit Nellie in the nose causing it to bleed, and she came off. Halleshia came on into GA and Kim T came on the court in GK. This change slowed the game down and this didnt neccessarily work for us this week. The combination of Hallesha and Paz didnt seem to work in the ring so a change needed to come at the break.
Our goal accuracy was not the best this quarter with Paz shooting 4 /7, Nellie a disappointing 1 /7 and halleshia 1/1. A team 40% which is not what we needed to win the game and gain some percentage. Geelong West were up by 2 and we knew goal accuracy was what needed to improve if we were going to win the game.
The second quarter Nellie was right to take the court so Halleshia moved into GK. We shot the first 3 goals and then Geelong West’s GS responded with the next goal. This potentially could have been the start of their run but we valued possession, played tight, stuck to the game plan and we scored the next 6. This fired us up, if we continued with our intensity, looked after the ball and converted our goals, we would be in a nice position to finish the game off strong.
Halleshia and Alisha played tight and came out hunting at the right time, this was good work from the girls up front that allowed these intercepts to happen. This work kept Geelong West to 4 goals for the quarter. Abbey was fantastic through the midcourt picking off balls and blocking her player from hitting the ring. Although Abbey still needs to develop a voice on court the team has faith that she will be sitting at the transverse line for a reset if it is needed.
Amanda C was fantastic in the centre finding herself free on several occasions allowing her to run a fast attacking break. She used the give and go particularly coming out of defence and then knew when to sit back and let others do the work. Our goalers moved alot better and this meant the feeders could find an easy pass. Paz shot 2 /3 and Nellie 12 /16. A much better shooting quarter with a team percentage of 73%. We were up by 8 heading into the last. A pleasing result for all our hard work.
The team remained the same due to the great second quarter and i wanted the intensity to continue. Dee’s straight drives were strong , and this forced the feeder to push the pass out strong and Dee did not let them down. She took the ball strong and with 2 hands. There was such great teamwork happening on the court with lots of positive praise and backing eachother up.
In the ring Paz held strong on the front hold which made it easier for the feeders to to feed the ball ion front rather than lobbing it over her opponents head. When Paz drove out of the ring for a pass it opened the goal ring up for Nellie to drive into the ring and take a nice pass from a feeder on the ring.
The teamwork between Paz, Nellie, Dee and Amanda was great with the back up of Alisha and Abbey at the transverse line.. The defensive line took 5 intercepts and 2 tips, this came from being ready on their toes and reading the play.
We could have blown out the game in the 3rd quarter but our goal accuracy had another slump with Nellie shooting only 1 from 12, ucky Paz's eye was in and she shot 5/7. A team low percentage of 31%. It was the hard work of our defenders that kept Geelong West to 4 goals.
We were up by 10 goals leading into the last quarter, and it was important that the team stayed focus and kept doing what was working BUT increasing the percentage. The teams instructions were to not let the intensity drop and to fix our accuracy. Paz and Nellie were instructed to get closer to the ring and the other goaler protecting the shot or rebound.
I am pleased to report that we shot 9 to Geelong West’s 3. Our defensive pressure was very strong and we had the opportunity to keep hunting for the ball. This was our best goal run with 7 in a row. Paz accuracy declined shooting 5 /11 and Nellie shot better with 4 /7. Still a percentage of 50%. Next week we will have Holly back which will allow changes in the goal circle when goal accuracy is low.
Goal accuracy
Nellie – 18 / 35 - 51% Amanda P – 16 / 28 – 57% Halleshia – 1 from 1 – 100%
35 goals from 64 attempts - An overall goal percentage of 54%.
Best players:
3 – Alisha Adams
2 – Abbey Todd
1 – Danielle Kuchenmeister
Round 10
Winchelsea Blues (36) Vs Corio (28)
We knew we were playing against a team that was on the bottom of the ladder and had not won a game this season. If we all did our jobs in our positions and played as a team, we were a good chance to win our second game for the season.
There was an alteration to our warm and I believe this had a positive impact on the team as it gave players the opportunity to run through a game and gave the team to talk and prepare for the game ahead.
We had a new goaler in the team today with Nellie Wilson joining C grade, we asked Nellie to play this week as we believe the main obstacle in the team is accuracy and she is regularly at the game watching Chloe play A grade. As a result we scored the first goal, which we have not consistently done this season and this a great confidence builder for all 7 players on the court. Amanda started in C with Dee in WA, this combination was great and had some really good passages of play. At times Dee stepped on forcing Amanda and the goalers to make a quicker move than they were going to and lucky for us the goalers were ready. Once Dee controlled the footwork and Nellie adjusted to the outdoors, there were some beautiful passages of play. Our accuracy was still not where it should be with Holly shooting at 50% (5 /10) and Nellie shot at 60% (3/5).
Our defence was switched on and ready to contest but gave their opponents a little too much room at times. We needed to tighten up and stop them receiving the ball and cut the ball off before it hit their goal circle. Because Corio’s GS was not very accurate (3/ 9) we had a lead heading into the 2nd quarter.
Our team were starting to find form so we decided to keep the team as we started. We started moving the ball down the court nicely and coming forward re-offering for the pass. This showed good teamwork. Dee and Amanda C were controlling the ball nicely and hitting the ring for an assist to Nellie and Holly. Goal accuracy improved this quarter with Holly shooting 6 from 11 and Nellie shooting 5 from 7.
In defence Abbey was tight on the WA stopping her from running long to the top of the ring. Her occasional talk to the other defenders is improving and the result was a few deflections from Alisha and Josie. Alisha and Josie combined well in the ring but were finding it difficult to work out their holding GS. They tried a variety of defensive styles to shut her down. The most effective defence was when Josie allowed the GS to drive out of the ring, then held her high and didn’t allow her back into the ring. This was effective and starved them of ball.
Going into the third quarter we were up by 8 goals (19 – 11). We had a decent lead but I wasn’t satisfied with 8 goals as there was still 24 minutes of netball to play. We made a few changes with Amanda P coming on to GS and Alisha and Josie swapped positions. Alisha was going to try to shut the GS down while Josie was sent out to GD to hustle the GA and stop her drive into the goal ring. This was effective in some ways but the change slowed down our drive out of defence and we weren’t gaining too much. Their GA put her foot down and started driving very fast into the ring and feed high balls to the holding GS. We were running out of legs to chase. Corio’s GS was very accurate shooting at 100% (5/5).
The change in our attack end was not initially effective with too many stationary moves and not enough drive. We were starting to struggle from our C passes with too many passes needing to be thrown before the goal ring was penetrated. The change initially was not effective but after an injury time (we called) and some re strategizing we were able to move the ball better and score from a goal ring assist. Paz shot 5 from 6 and Nellie 4 from 4, thanks to their team work in and outside the ring. This quarter we shot 9 goals to Corio’s 7
Dee was having a great game in WA but I felt like she was starting to fatigue towards the end of the 3rd so she was rested and Holly moved into WA. Halleshia also came on into GK and Alisha moved back into GD, giving us that drive we needed down court. We had a slump this quarter and Corio out shot us 10 -8. We were starting to look fatigued but not as much as previous weeks
Holly was a great option in WA with her fresh legs assisting Amanda C down the court and passing accurately into the goal ring. Holly’s passes were strong which was great to see as she has been working on this at training. Hallesha and Alisha worked well together and split the ring on occasions. Abbey kept hustling the ball but just needs to get a little more fire in her belly. Unfortunately Claire did not take the court in C grade this week as the players on court were combining well but showed outstanding team work supporting her team from the bench.
From this game I have learnt that we need to talk more, be patient with each other and not step on during play, ensuring an accurate pass. Defensively we need full court pressure and we need to be tighter in a one on one contest. Today we showed a huge improvement on previous weeks and I hope this wasn’t just because we won. We will see over the coming weeks.
Goal accuracy:
Holly – 13 /23 = 56% Nellie – 12 /16 = 75% Amanda P – 11 / 12 – 91%
36 / 51 - An overall goal percentage of 70%.
Best players: ( Ciara also had imput)
3 : Alisha 2 :Dee 1 :Amanda
Round 9
Winchelsea Blues (19) Vs Inverleigh (42)
Today was a loss but it was also a progression as a team. The game started off with Inverleigh shooting a run of 6 goals which put us in chase mode and if it was to continue we were going to lose the game by a lot. We needed tighter defence in able to cut the ball off before it go to the goal circle. We were turning over easy balls with a break at our centre passes, not talking to eachother to who is taking the lead and our passes in the ring were too soft and were being intercepted by Inverleigh’s defenders.
We only converted 2 goals this quarter from a total of 8 attempts, acucracy like this was too costly and had us in chase mode for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately Clare needed a time as she was experiencing chest pains so Amanda P took the GS bib and Holly moved into GA.This combination was not overly effective as we made no head way on the score board.
We decided to reset and start the second quarter fresh, instructions to the team were to defend every ball, have defensive pressure down court and we needed to push our passes and be accountable for our own position on the court. We were struggling to achieve these goals because Inverleigh had a run of 3 goals due to us not converting our C passes and the defensive pressure was not tight enough to cause a turnover. Ciara our head coach joined the coaching bench at this point to offer advice on how to get some goals back on the board. A time was called half way through the quarter by Inverleigh which allowed Ciara to give players instructions and feedback.
Sharna was instructed to defend the front on her player and hold her high when she lead forward, Holly was to get off the base line in the circle and block her defender to protect the shot and rebound, Paz was to hold front position in the goal circle and wait for Dee to hit the top and feed the ball in and as a team we needed to make more than 1 lead at the ball. The ball was getting to the circle but it was too difficult for the midcourters to find a pass as both goalers were still on the base line, holding from behind or moving off a hold too soon. We shot 4 from 10 this quarter, i cant help but imagine if our accuracy improved what the score would be. We would be on 18 goals instead of 6.
Our accuracy was our main issue so a change had to be made if we were going to peg back the margin. Under clear holding instructions Halleshia came on into GS and the rest of the team stayed the same. This combination seemed to work, well and throw Inverleigh off. Dee was cutting nicely and hitting and holding position on the ring, which meant that she was able to feed the ball into the shooters easier. Holly was moving nicely, getting off the base line and cutting high on the circle to either draw a defender or recieve the ball. Amanda C was making leads and kept re offering down the court. The team started to find a flow and our defensive pressure which was reasonably strong all game was getting stronger. Because Abbey was out in WD it allowed her to assist bringing the ball down to the transverse line as a back up option. Sharna and Delle were playing a tight one on one game managing to get hands to balls and force them to turnover the ball.
Halleshia was the difference in attack and with strong position in the ring she created options for the feeders and was there for a high ball if we needed it. We shot 9 from 14 attempts which was a much better. quarter. Had we been more accurate we would have been on 32 goals and not 15. A significant difference.
We knew we were not going to win the game, but we had an opportunity to lower the margin by working hard to apply the same defensive pressure and working the ball down the court with confidence. That is why i chose to leave the line up.
Our fitness let us down in the final quarter as we fumbled more balls, turned over easy balls, made poor choices in our attack and our accuracy declined. We scored only 3 goals from 8 attempts. We need to be prepared and fit enough to play with 100% intensity for a full 50 minutes.
This weeks stats were not accurate so there is no individual percentages.
Thank you to our head coach Ciara for taking the time to help out.
Overall goal percentage of 44%. (19 goals shot from 43 attempts)
Best players:
3 – Danielle Kuchenmeister
2 – Holly McFarlane
1 – Abbey Todd
Round 8
Winchelsea Blues (18) Vs East Geelong (37)
After an intense training session on Thursday, our 7th loss for the season is not what we were after today. We started the game off welcoming back Amanda P from knee soreness.
We had the first centre pass, we used our systems we have been practicing but Amanda P forced the ball into Claire where the ball was unfortunately intercepted by East Geelong. Our defence pressure was great and rebounding from Halleshia and Abbey was strong. We turned over the ball 7 times this quarter and these were from Holly 3, Dee 2, Halleshia 1 and Claire 1. Not the best accuracy, we scored 5 from 10 to 7 from 13. Lucky East Geelong were not accurate or we would have had a lot of catching up to do.
Claire came off in the second quarter for a rest and Halleshia took the GA bib, Delle came into GK. This quarter we seemed to be waiting too long to pass and not using our first short options. Defence were working hard but too many times we were not manning up on our players tight enough therefore easy runs were made to East Geelong’s goal circle. Amanda C called time and needed some first aid attention, we had the opportunity to make some changes, so we did. Dee moved from WD into WA to up the intensity, Amanda C took the C bib, Abbey into WD to try to cut the ball off before it got the goal circle, Halleshia into GD as we needed more pressure put on the shooters and Holly into GA. This was much better with more movement and intensity down the court, Dee was making strong leads with speed, our accuracy continued to let us down scoring 5 from 10 attempts to East Geelong’s 9 from 15.
Amanda P had a rest in the 3rd quarter and holly took the GS bib, Claire came back on in GA and Halleshia moved back into GK with Delle taking the GD bib, Alisha stayed on the bench. This quarter was not our best scoring quarter but we were able to bring the ball down the court into the ring with a littler more ease but our defence pressure lacked down the court. We shot 4 from 10 this quarter.
Abbey was looking flat in the WD position so Alisha took the bib and gave Abbey a rest. Amanda P came back on in GS with Claire in GA, the girls were starting to work together in the ring and understanding eachothers moves, with some more time in the ring together along with Holly, I hope for this to improve more and more each week. Amanda C had a great game combining well with Dee in the mid court. Holly did not want to come back on so it was up to Amanda and Dee to finish the game off strong. We finished with 4 from 8 attempts.
Overall, our goal percentage continues to be low with 47% accuracy. Our mid court struggled to find space down the court at times and our decision making was also letting us down more towards the end of each quarter. Defence worked hard but too many times we were not manning up tight enough. Once our set combinations start working, we will see improvements down the court converting goals.
Goal Accuracy:
Amanda P – 8 from 15 attempts = 53% Claire – 7 from 13 attempts = 53%
Holly – 1 from 6 attempts = 16% Halleshia – 2 from 4 attempts = 50%
Best players:
3 – Amanda C
2 – Dannielle Kuchenmeister
1 – Halleshia Kirby
Round 7
Winchelsea Blues (13) Bell Post Hill (36)
The game started in a positive mood with all players raring to go after a great warm up. With Amanda P still out Injured, Halleshia took the GS bib and lined up with Claire in GA. We were hoping that with Halleshia’s strength and Claire’s speed, this would be a great combination, it was but we couldn’t get our goals in. First quarter we scored 3 from 9 – this was not a good start and we could not blame this on the wet and windy weather as Bell Post Hill shot 8 from 12 goals. Second quarter we made some changes with Holly into GS and Halleshia in GA, we shot 4 from 9, this was still not good enough. The third quarter we scored 3 from 6 and in the last was 3 from 11. This is a percentage of 37%.
Down the court we were not applying our systems that we have been learning at training. Jackie was great through the middle controlling the court and hitting the ring then for a re offer, along with the shared workload of Holly and Amanda in WA. Danielle (Dee) was finding it hard to keep up with her player which was a very speedy player who played a big part in BPH attacking end, later we identified that Dee was jumping when defending her player which she was getting an easy run on to the top of the ring.
Abbey and Delle worked tiressly down the defence end, hustling, tipping and taking intercepts for the ball to quickly come back down after either a turnover in the mid court or a missed goal. We need to work on our defence throw ins but they are improving more each week. To be able to stop easy runs into our opponents goals, we need to try to cut the ball off before it reaches the ring from our WD and C.
Unfortunately we did not come away with a win today but the girls went out onto the court played as a team and had fun. The difference was that Bell Post Hill was able to convert their goals in the trying conditions and we couldn’t. We look forward to making some improvements at training and taking on East Geelong next week.
Round 6
Winchelsea Blues (32) Vs Belmont Lions (33)
We were without Paz and Amanda C today so Angie and Min kindly took the court before their B grade game.
Goal stats were unfortunately not taken today as I also took the court.
Our first quarter started strong scoring 10 goals to Belmont Lions 7. Our drives were strong and our ball placement was finding min and Claire in the circle well. Defence were working hard to try to cut the ball off before it entered the goal circle.
The second quarter Angie came into WA, her well timed drives and use of her positive voice sure pumped the team up a few notches. Again we were combing well and took the game by the reigns scoring 10 goals to Belmont Lions 5, our defence pressure from everyone was fantastic.
Belmont Lions won the third quarter in this game scoring 11 goals to our 7 which minimized the margin we had leading into this quarter. We slowed and let Belmont Lions get some fast easy goals, some silly errors were made by miss communication between each other and lack of back up.
Being only 4 goals up, we knew we needed to work hard to keep our lead, Delle copped a corked thigh earlier on so she was feeling pretty sore. Again this quarter, our lack of leading forward for the ball may have cost us the game as we were not timing our leads or offering back up for each other. Belmont Lions were the better team in this quarter also scoring 10 goals to our 5. Unfortunately we did not take away the 4 points and lost
Lots to work on at training this week before having a rest for the interleague weekend.
Best players – 3 – Belinda Czerniawski 2 – Angie Mawson 1 – Abbey Todd
Round 5
Winchelsea (18) V Werribee (33) - LOSS
We didn't have a win today but each and every player improved their game. After a few weeks struggling to find a nice combination in our attacking end, Clair Round who has been playing Centre in D grade was given an opportunity to play GA and didn't she do a fantastic job combining beautifully with Amanda Partridge in the ring. Our defenders needed to work hard to turnover the ball from the tall GS, and speedy GA, our communication was certainly better this week. Injuries were the downfall of our game today with Dee, Delle and Claire unfortunately not being able to finish off their games and Kellie not being able to take the court today with a hand injury. Jackie , Amanda, Holly and Abbey were strong through the mid court with great drives and timing. Overall we have improved as a team and are very excited to get back on the court next week.
Amanda P - Great movement in the goal circle creating many options.
Claire - Fantastic drives down the court, great explosive moves creating space in the goal third.
Holly - Great front cuts, offering every time with strong leads.
Amanda C - Great movement in the centre third creating space combining well with C and the shooters.
Jackie - driving towards the ball was strong, great control down the court.
Dee - nice defensive pressure over the WA making her work hard down the court.
Abbey - great defensive pressure over her player, improved communication today then adapted well in C in the last quarter.
Halleshia - fantastic pressure over the tall GS - very tight and went for everything.
Delle - nice agility in the goal circle with some nice tips.
Kellie - unfortunately did not take the court due to a hand injury in D grade.
BEST: 3 ABBEY 2 HALLESHIA 1 CLAIRE
Round 4
Winchelsea Blues (18) North Geelong (33)
We started the game with a change to our attacking end as we have not been converting goals well in the previous weeks. Dee moved from her WD position into GA, Dee’s job was to allow Holly (C) and Amanda C (WA) to bring the ball down cleanly and to keep her feet moving around the front of the goal ring to be able to give options for the feeders to accurately get the ball into the goal ring. The combination of Holly and Amanda C worked well with Amanda C being a short sharp player giving strong timed drives and Holly being a tall agile player being able to cut off passes in the mid court. Amanda P found it difficult to move around the tall GK. Once she was able to play front and keep her position, the girls managed to be able to feed into her. This quarter we shot 4 from 8 attempts, 3 to Amanda P and 1 to Holly.
Our defenders Alisha, Delle and Abbey worked hard to slow North Geelong’s drive into the ring. We did not do a good enough job as North Geelong had an easy run of 5 goals.
Changes were made in the second quarter. Alisha to GK to try to slow the GS, this was the correct move as the GS only shot 1 goal. Delle to WD and Abbey to GD. North Geelong’s GA shot a total of 8 goals this quarter, we needed to stop the GA’s drive into the ring.
Our shooting was horrible this quarter with 5 from 11 attempts.
Alisha called time and had to come off as she hurt her back by landing badly in the 1st quarter, Dee came back to WD, and Les took the GA bib.
The third quarter, Amanda C and Holly swapped bibs, Les stayed in GA but unfortunately did not shoot a goal. Amanda P shot 3 from 6 attempts.
We had a good run in the final quarter with Holly coming into GS, Les staying in GA and Alisha coming on in Centre. We shot the first 4 goals, 2 from Holly and 2 from Les. We managed to score 6 goals to North Geelong’s 7. We did not win this quarter but it was an improvement, although not the best accuracy shooting 8 from 14 attempts.
Overall our shooting percentage is unacceptable shooting 18 from 39 attempts, being 46% accuracy. We need to improve this if we want to win games. Our defenders did a good job but we just couldn’t cut off enough drives before the ball entered the goal circle to the tall holding shooter.
Next week we will take on Werribee with our full bench so we can rotate fresh legs through the game.
3 – Holly McFarlane 2 – Amanda Carroll 1 – Abbey Todd
ROUND 3
Winchelsea Blues (5) Vs Bannockburn (26)
A very disappointing effort in tonights game with the team scoring 5 goals from only 11 attempts.
The game started off with positive words from our captain Amanda! Everyone was pumped to take the court and work hard. This was not the case tonight, we really struggled to come forward for the ball, communicate with each other, the attacking end were cutting off drives and we were getting in eachothers way. Bannockburn shot 5 goals before we had our first score on the board. Amanda C in WA and Jackie in the Centre found it very difficult getting the ball into the goal ring. Alisha came on into C at half time but this did not make a difference at all. The defenders, Abbey, Delle and Dee were working hard to turn over the ball only for it to come straight back down their end. Not the best defensive throw ins but this can be corrected with more training together.
Our shooters did not have many opportunities but we need to work on our movement and communication between our shooters, C and WA.
Lots to work on at training this week, we can only move on and learn from our previous mistakes.
3 – Lyndelle Dobson 2 – Abbey Todd 1 – Danielle Kuchenmeister
ROUND 2
Winchelsea Blues Vs Thompson
C grade came up against last years premiers who came out firing from the first whistle. There were plenty of hard drives fromn Amanda Carroll who controlled the attacking end with Jackie continually creating space in the centre court and opened up the attacking end also.
unfortunately Thompson’s defence had plenty of answers. Our defence end lead strongly by Lyndelle Dobson and Abbey Todd had the ball rebounding out but we struggled to convert into goals. Not the result we were hoping for after lasts weeks win.
3 - Abbey Todd 2 - Amanda Carroll 1 - Jackie Steere
