Lancefield believes it has what it takes to win the Riddell District Netball League – but that it will need a bit of luck to go its way.
While the Tigers are third on the ladder, with just four losses, they have had a tough season at times.
Coach Alan Watson said the hardest part had been trying to get the best line-up on the court every week.
“Sometimes we’ve had 20 players out across the three teams,” he sad. “It’s not been ideal, but we’ve been able to battle through.
“Last week [against Romsey] was our strongest team … for the last two months – and we still didn’t have our best team.”
Watson said he was unsure whether there would be a full squad for finals, as it was a wait and see situation in terms of some players’ other sports commitments.
On Saturday, again without their full side, the Tigers easily accounted for bottom outfit the Sunbury Kangaroos. A 24-11 first quarter was a sign of things to come, with the Tigers winning 77-43.
Tahnysha Salanoa scored 45 goals in the win, while Courtney Annett shot 32 goals from 33 attempts to be best on court.
For the Kangaroos, Ashlee Vaughan, who shot 28 goals, was named the best in the loss.
The Tigers are third, where Watson is confident they will remain.
Rupertswood, in fourth, needs the Tigers to have a big loss to Melton Centrals and itself to have a big win against Rockbank to have any chance of snatching third spot.
The Tigers’ four losses have come against the other three sides in the top four.
A total of four goals separated the Tigers and Romsey in their two games, while they were undermanned in their losses to Rupertswood and Macedon.
“We have a serious team on the park when they all play,” Watson said. “We just need to put our best foot forward and we’ll keep chipping away and give it a shake.”
In positive signs for the Tigers, they will have three sides playing in finals – A, B and C grades. The B-grade side is fourth and the C-grade team fifth with one round remaining.
In other A-grade results, scores were level at half-time between Diggers Rest and Romsey before the Redbacks came out on top in the second half.
Macedon was too good for Rockbank, Melton Centrals did the job against Riddell and Rupertswood defeated Woodend-Hesket.
