| Wendy Roberts |
The A Grade game against Rockbank had Woodend/Hesket settle into a fairly open flowing game within the opening minutes of the first quarter.
Rockbank didn’t appear to have any major threats. Tara scored goals with additional height over the GK and with well-placed passes from Maddy, Gracie and Brittany.
Maddy was matched against a defender who was similar in height and speed, however her court-play experience allowed her to out-play her opponent.
The mid-court players found space and played a forward leading game.
In the back-court, Abbey and Ally were working on understanding the play of the Rockbank shooters. A fast little GA for Rockbank would set up the plays that enabled the GS to get into position and score goals.
Woodend/Hesket surged ahead with a eight-goal lead entering the second quarter. Timing of leads, with the release of our passes varied, allowed it to keep possession of the ball that resulted in goals being scored.
The back-court had Macca move into WD to add speed and drive down court. Abbey and Ally kept applying pressure, however, it was the small ball rolls that the Rockbank shooters continually did between each other, that had shooters get closer to the post. This play still did not see Rockbank close the gap on the scoreboard.
With Rockbank’s GA dominating in the second quarter, Macca was placed into GD to stop the speed of her speed. She did an outstanding job, tagging her and holding her up, however now she had vision, we needed Abbey’s long arms to close the GA’s view. With Abbey returning to the court, Rockbank continued with its running on play.
Fifteen minutes can be a long time in a quarter, however it can also give teams time to recover. Within the second half of the third quarter, the Hawks returned to a forward attacking game, running onto the ball and defence slowly starting to close the space. This was the only quarter that Rockbank won.
In the final quarter, the Woodend A grade team returned to court with the understanding of what was needed; team work in attack and defence. With Rockbank being vocal in the last quarter, they came out physical, attacking the ball and taking interceptions when we didn’t run onto the ball.
However, with all players working hard and doing their job, Woodend-Hesket set the standard and found their momentum and surged ahead.
Tara went off the court due to an injury. This gave Ally a chance to play GS and score her first goal for the 2019 season. With the defence line up of Macca, Shannon and Abbey all applying visual defensive pressure, Rockbanks error rate increased and we intercepted the ball and sent it down court.
This was a winning quarter and by the final siren, a win for the team. All players contributed to this win. Brittany played a steady linking game, while Gracie continually had space to execute explosive leads. Maddy scored goals all around the circle. Woodend A grade team show cased to Rockbank that they were the better skilled team, a stronger united team.
Well done ladies, a good result, a good win. Go Hawks!
Last Modified on 25/06/2019 18:15
