The City West Falcons made it a perfect 10 as they accounted for the Melbourne University Lightning in the Victorian Netball League on Wednesday night.
The Falcons continued their strong form as they got a jump on the Lightning early on and were able to build throughout the clash on the way to an 83-50 win.
Falcons coach Marg Lind was pretty happy with the performance.
“It was a pretty good win,” she said. “They have some young defenders, having lost Gabby [Coffey] and Maggie [Caris].
“Claudia [Mawson] was back in but was on and off the court. They’ve lost some experience and have some young kids who are trying hard.”
For a second straight week, the Falcons looked to rest some players and try different combinations after getting out to a big lead.
Maggie Lind again played just one quarter, while Montana Holmes was also able to get a rest.
The Falcons bought Vanessa Augustini into the side for the first time this season.
Augustini, who played with the Western Warriors last season, has been doing some trying with the Falcons for a few weeks. It’s where she started her VNL career.
“We still hadn’t replaced Soli [Ropati],” Lind said. “She joked that she said she looked good in red and doesn’t know why she left the club.
“She fits in well and brings that experience if we lose Mon or Maggie. We needed some more experience to help cover.”
The Falcons also played around with a smaller shooting circle, giving Jane Cook a bit of a break. Cook still shot 60 goals in three quarters.
Lind said they were happy with how the smaller circle worked and they are moving the ball around a lot better.
“We try and get 20 goals a quarter and we know that is not achievable every week,” she said.
“It was good to get that last night [Wednesday].”
Lind said it was a really good team performance.
The Falcons 23 and unders produced one of their best performances of the season as they knocked off the Lightning, 58-51.
Lind said it was an important game for them as it moved them back into the top six.
“There’s still a lot of improvement to come,” she said.
“We got off to a good start and it set us up. They squared it up for a while and we were able to keep the pressure up.
“We were more cleaner in attack as well. Minimising errors is something we have asked from them.”
Both Falcons sides face the Peninsula Waves on Wednesday night.
