Hampden White vs Timboon Night.
Hampden White vs Timboon Night.
Hampden White vs Timboon Night.
Hampden White vs Timboon Night.
HAMPDEN White has hit the mid-season break on top of the Western Regional State League ladder after another commanding display last night.
White turned a nine-goal half-time advantage into a 20-goal triumph, 52-32, against Timboon Night at The Arc.
The win means it hits the first break of the season unbeaten after four rounds and looking every bit the flag contender.
Hampden White assistant coach Pam Davis wouldn’t buy into finals talk post-match, but said she was happy with her players’ performance “in patches”.
“I thought there were some really good patches but there were a lot of sloppy patches as well, a lot of turnovers both ways,” she said.
“But take nothing away from them. That was probably the pressure they put on.
“I was really happy with our third quarter. I felt that was when we turned it on.”
Hampden White led at every break, by four goals, 10, 15 and finally 20.
Davis said she asked her players to work on their defensive play and delivery into the goal circle.
To that end, she was pleased with the efforts of an experienced trio — goal shooter Carley Thomas, goal attack Leah Kermeen and goal keeper Jess O’Connor.
Thomas led the scoring with 34 goals while O’Connor had an entertaining duel with Timboon Night shooter Kate Burt, who finished with 22 goals.
Through the middle, centre Skye Billings was productive and limited the influence of her direct rival Anna Archie, who was also one of Timboon Night’s best players.
“I gave her (Billings) a job to do at quarter-time, to cut out their centre player,” Davis said.
“I was really pleased with that job. Anna was dominating the first quarter and I thought Skye really quietened her.
“They took her off the last quarter, so credit to Skye.”
Timboon Night coach Raewyn Poumako said she was encouraged by the display, which was an improvement on previous weeks.
But she rued her players’ wastefulness “all over the court” when in possession.
“I think we had things we did better than in the last few games,” she said.
“But we gave away so many passes. We had so many opportunities and we threw them away and the girls were getting frustrated with themselves.”
In other matches last night, Hampden Green claimed its second win of the season with a 45-28 triumph over Colac and District and Port Fairy showed what it is capable of with a 68-38 win against Warrnambool and District.
Camperdown Night led Cobden Night 25-15 at half-time in the late match.