SLOPPY, no pressure and no desperation.
Those were words Stacey O'Sullivan used to describe Warrnambool Football Netball Club's (WFNC)opening half in last night's round five action of Western Regional State League.
Fortunately her side was able to shake off its sleepiness and switch on in the second half to record a comfortable 53-32 win over Warrnambool and District Football Netball League (WDFNL).
Since dropping their first two matches of the pre-season competition to Hampden league and Colac and District Football League Netball Association, the Blues have handed out three successive annihilations.
"The first two games we were just getting used to each other," O'Sullivan said.
"Now we're more settled and I know which positions players are best in."
WFNC - which sat in second spot before last night - has a tough road home to the finals as it tackles the two sides which defeated it in the opening two rounds.
But O'Sullivan believed if the Blues played the way they did in the final two quarters last night, they would be able to spark a turnaround against the Bottle Greens and Colac and District.
WFNC found itself up by only one goal at half-time against a defiant Warrnambool and District.
Within a few minutes of returning to the court, the buffer stretched out to five, courtesy of some cool and accurate shooting under pressure by Blues' goal attack Sarah Hearn and shooter Darcy Saunders.
The duo - who had to combat the persistent Dee Jaynes - switched bibs at the main break, a move O'Sullivan believed paid off.
WDFNL centre Rachel Mungean's intensity and pressure in defence, followed by good vision in attack, saw Warrnambool and District net three consecutive goals.
But the momentum swing didn't last long as the anticipation of Blues defenders O'Sullivan and Emma Roache enabled them to continuously cut off passes to towering shooter Narelle Welsh.
The transition into attack was then smooth, thanks to the steady head of Jacqui Bowman, who fed cleverly into Hearn and Saunders.
While Bowman was patient, District's passes throughout the term were often wayward.
A successful long-range shot from Saunders after the Blues broke WDFNL's centre, followed by a strong rebound and goal from the shooter after her own side's centre, gave WFNC a 13-goal advantage at three-quarter-time.
Distr ict tried to use Welsh as the go-to shooter in the final term but its mostly risky passes only worked about 50 per cent of the time as Roache and O'Sullivan kept the pressure up.
The Blues didn't shoot as accurately in the last quarter as they did in the third but it didn't matter as their margin was too much for District to catch.
O'Sullivan was also relentless at every centre, following opponent Katie Burt out and making it difficult for the goal attack to receive a pass.
WDFNL's finals chances were virtually extinguished last night as the round five match marked its fourth loss.
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