TIMBOON Demons’ past fortnight on the netball court has given coach Hayley Plozza cause to be excited.
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Matches against finalists from last season have yielded a thrilling win against Kolora-Noorat and a competitive loss to powerhouse Old Collegians.
From finishing eighth in 2014, hopes are high they can return to finals. But the five finalists loom as strong as ever.
Dennington is the flag favourite, Old Collegians have reinforced their list and Panmure, Merrivale and Kolora-Noorat have covered their losses well.
Then there’s tomorrow’s opponent Allansford — another side which finished outside the five and likewise shapes as a big improver.
“I’m certainly looking towards finals this year, but still unsure what other clubs are like at this stage,” Plozza said.
“Dennington is emerging as the team to beat, everyone else is fair game at this stage.”
With that uncertainty in mind, Plozza said she was rapt the Demons could hold out the Power, 36-33 last weekend.
The win, secured with an 11-9 final term, could prove its worth later in the season. The corresponding match last season ended 40-25 the other way.
“Kolora-Noorat we lost to last year, it was really nice to get a win on the board against them,” Plozza said.
“We had Cloe Marr, who had been playing ill, in defence. She was crook and had to come off at half-time.
“We moved Sharni Smethurst, she came up from A reserve and juniors the year before, into goal defence and she did a really good job.”
She played up the influence of the defenders — Smethurst, Marr and Prue Hunter — who had ensured inaccuracy at the other end hadn’t been damaging.
“The defence end has been dominant, they’ve created plenty of turn-overs and opportunities,” she said.
“Our accuracy hasn’t been as good as I’d like it to be under the ring. That’s something we’ve been working on at training.” Allansford coach Sarah Robertson will take the reins for the first time this season, after missing the first three rounds on her honeymoon.
She will retake her spot in defence, alongside either Sally Bond or Natasha Ward.
Robertson said the Cats were also banking on playing finals — an ambition which has heightened the importance of tomorrow.
“We’re hoping to definitely make finals, that’s our aim this year, go one better and make finals,” she said. “We’ve got to gel as a team because we’ve got a lot of new players, that’s the main thing we’re focusing on, our game play and figuring out where we play.”
Elsewhere, the sole match today is at Davidson Oval, where Old Collegians meet Kolora-Noorat.
In Sunday action, Panmure hosts Merrivale at Panmure while Deakin University welcomes South Rovers to the Pond.
Russells Creek will search for its first win against Nirranda at Mack Oval and Dennington meets East Warrnambool at Dennington.