Bacchus Marsh didn’t come switched on to play on Saturday and the Sunbury Lions made them pay.
Sitting comfortably in the Ballarat Netball League top six, the Cobras got a true indication of the gap between themselves and the top sides when they played the undefeated Lions.
A poor start proved costly for the Cobras, who trailed by nine goals at quarter-time.
The second quarter was more even and the Cobras did reduce to the margin back to five goals.
However the second half saw the Lions go to another level as they nailed an impressive 65-44 win.
Cobras’ coach Michael Saker said he was disappointed with his team’s performance.
“I don’t think we came out with a strong start and that was our focus against them,” he said.
“Quite clearly, when you go down nine goals in the first quarter, you’re a long way back.
“We need to be firing from the word go against the good teams, as once they get a little bit of a jump on you we’re done.
“Sometimes we got complacent with our decision-making and got a bit lazy with our work rate.”
Saker said that at times they showed what they could do, like early in the second quarter, but they weren’t able to do it for long enough.
He said those lapses proved costly and teams like Sunbury would exact a toll for them.
He said timing issues, poor decision-making and mental fatigue were some of the reasons for the lapses.
That meant the Cobras turned the ball back over after gaining turnovers and were smashed in the rebounding count.
But Saker said it was not all a matter of doom and gloom for the Cobras, who slipped one spot to fifth. This is one of their best starts to a season in a number of years as they look to break their finals drought.
“They [Sunbury] are a quality team,” Saker said.
“I’m disappointed, but at the same time we have a lot to learn out of that.
“We had a pretty good season last season and we’ve topped up in defence and the attacking end.
“The girls want to play finals. We missed out last year and you have to beat the good teams to do that.”
The Cobras will this week face third-placed Lake Wendouree. Saker is hoping to see more of the sort of performance they put out against Redan the previous week.
“It will be a tough game and they play a similar style to us,” he said.
“Hopefully, it’s not too windy up there, as when our shooters are on, they’re on.
“We went in with a bit of a game plan at the start of the season. We looked at Redan and wanted to get that and take the challenge to Sunbury. Next week, Lakers and Sebas [Sebastopol] – and they have to be on the cards for us to get wins. Get those two, cement a good spot in the top six. You have to bring your A game for four strong quarters.”
In other results, Melton South upset second-placed East Point 44-38 to move within one game of the top six.
A poor first quarter proved costly for Darley against Ballarat, with Ballarat winning
42-36.
