Tara Murray
City West Falcons returned to the court in fine form in the Victorian Netball League championship division, with a big win against the Ariels.
After nearly a month off due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the Falcons were keen to get back out there last Wednesday.
They started a bit sloppy before stepping it up in the middle two quarters to take control of the game.
With the game already decided, the Falcons switched things up in the last quarter as they ran away with a 66-33 win.
Falcons coach Marg Lind said she was happy with how the team returned to the court.
She said the group had done a bit of training in the break over zoom and outdoors, with their country and city players splitting into different training groups.
“The break did us good,” she said.
“I thought all three of our teams looked pretty good out there. The championship side looked really good in the second and third quarters after a sloppy start.”
Jane Cook shot 45 goals from 47 attempts. In the last quarter Lind moved her to goalkeeper.
“She’s still potentially someone who could develop in that role, with a shortage of tall keepers at the higher level.
“She did quite well. We’ll look at that more in training.”
Lind also switched the mid-court around, with Montana Holmes going back in wing defence and Emma Walters getting some time at wing attack ahead of the national championships.
It was a hat-trick of wins for the Falcons, with their division 1 and under-19 sides also coming away with the points.
The division 1 team had to survive a last quarter comeback, winning 63-57, while the under-19s were dominant in the 54-33 win.
Lind said there was a lot of unknown about how the rest of the season would look and the side would need to continue to be adaptable.
They face ladder leaders Melbourne University this week in a top of the table clash.
“They are proposing to go into pools,” Lind said. “We’ll get to the halfway mark and then every club is ranked on their three sides and will be placed in pools and then qualify for finals that way.
“For the championship division it’s not ideal, but for the under-19s and division 1 sides it’s more opportunity to grow.
“It is what it is, we’re still getting to play netball.”
