Tara Murray
The City West Falcons came out on top in the first battle of the west in the Victorian Netball League championship.
The Falcons faced fellow western suburbs side Western Warriors on Wednesday night and it was the reigning premiers that came out on top, winning 66-57.
Falcons coach Marg Lind said they knew it was always going to be a tough challenge. Lind said they know there’s a lot of talent out west and it was good to see it in the senior ranks.
“Kim [Borger] and Jules [Woolley] together, that’s a lot of experience,” she said.
“We’ve got a pretty new defence end and a young defence and so I thought shuffling the deck a bit worked well.
“Actually just having fresh legs every quarter against older players, who probably don’t want a fresh leg on them, so that was good.
“They were good at least until half time and then I think probably our fitness got us through in the end and maybe a bit of youthfulness in the defence end.
“They were solid and hard to beat.”
Lind said they started a bit slowly and were able to build into the game. She said it was always going to be a bit of a risk having given the girls last week off with the bye.
She said she was happy with how the defenders all progressed in the game saying they had their moments and the rotations worked well.
At the other end she said they were a little wasteful at times. The Falcons were without Shimona Jok due to commitments with the Melbourne Mavericks Super Netball side.
The Falcons under-23 side also came away with the win against the Warriors, 60-36.
Lind said the side was building.
She said Mikaela Minns and Achel Yout in defence were really strong and said they were right on the cusp of playing in the championship side, while Maddison Mckiernan in wing defence had been a really good leader for them.
Minns, Holly Adams-Alcock and Lani Fauonuku will miss this week due to playing at that under-19 and under-17 national championships.
The trio will miss the Falcons game with the Geelong Cougars.
Lind said she was expecting a battle in both games against the old rival. The match will be a Falcons home game, with the match being played at Altona on Wednesday night.
Lind said she was hoping to see a big crowd down there. They are also hosting two days of school holiday clinics this week as well.
“Normally by round six you start to have a look, I think this year might be a bit different,” she said.
“It might take a few more rounds, you’ve got that bye in there. Some teams have had a tougher run so far.
“Geelong will be the big test for us, to see where we are at.”
