Tara Murray
It wasn’t pretty but the City West Falcons came away with the points in the top of the table clash in the Victorian Netball League championship.
The Falcons and Boroondara Express entered the game equal on points with only one loss for the season.
It ended up being a high scoring affair, with the Falcons getting the 69-61 win and cementing top spot in the process.
While happy to win the top of the table clash, Lind was slightly disappointed after the game.
“It wasn’t the best game,” she said.
“Our offensive game was generally strong, but defensively we couldn’t get it together.
“We tried a lot of different things. They handled the ball really well and exploited the baseline,
“There’s a bit of homework to be done. We found one thing that will work for us.”
Lind said the Express shot really well and made the most of the errors from the Falcons. Lind said this was the type of game that they needed.
The Falcons were understrength with Uneeq Palavi out with illness and Lucia Fauonuku playing just seven minutes for the same reason.
Both were set for a Tongan international camp on the weekend.
Lind said they used the opportunity to try a few things, with both players set to miss games late in the season due to the World Cup.
“It was a really important game as we know what will happen come finals,” he said.
“We looked at what we had and ran the girls for four full quarters,” she said. “We didn’t have the rolling subs like we were used to.”
Jane Cook shot 63 of the Falcons goals, with Lind saying she had a solid game.
She said Maggie Lind was good for three quarters, but said the whole group was up and down throughout the game.
The win had the Falcons a game clear on top of the ladder, but Lind said they can’t afford to slip up,
She said they were hoping to have Kim Borger play a few more games to qualify her for finals, but had a back up plan if that didn’t happen.
Lind said midcourter Soli Ropati would hopefully be back from injury in the coming weeks, while Molly Kennedy got another opportunity on Wednesday night.
Lind said they were expecting a tough run home.
“Casey just added Jacqui Newton to their squad and they beat Melbourne University by heaps,” she said.
“It’s the last season of the VNL like this, so it’s going to be a hard last six-seven weeks.”
The Falcons under-19s and division 1 teams both had wins on Wednesday night.
Both sides sit in third spot, but are equal on points with the top two sides.
The Falcons this week face the Aerials with Lind saying they can’t underestimate them.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan national netball team will be in Altona as they prepare for the World Cup.
The Falcons coaches have volunteered to help train them in mornings, while they will have match play at night.
