Hamilton Kangaroos down Port Fairy in Hampden league netball

The Seagulls gave Hamilton Kangaroos a scare on Saturday before the Nat O'Dea side eked out an important 54-45 win at Gardens Oval.

It was the Roos' third win from nine games, giving them belief that can rattle the top-five in the run home.

MORE NETBALL: Quarters to become juggling act for Saints

But O'Dea had high praise for Port Fairy which is a developing team under mentor Renae Taylor.

"They don't get rattled, they kept going for the full 60 minutes," she said.

"They were really impressive I thought. I hope they get a couple of wins in the back-end of the season because they absolutely deserve it.

"Renae is so calm with them. I can see what they are trying to do down there."

O'Dea took positives and negatives out of the match which saw Emma Sommerville (calf tightness) and Leesa Iredell (leg) spending large chunks of time on the bench.

"We had some beautiful passages of play but then we also had some average passages," she said.

"When we were in control of the ball, patient with the ball and steady, it was great but we really need to start doing it for longer. We need to grind out the 60 minutes."

O'Dea said Sommerville erred on the side of caution.

"It's the other calf now. I think the other leg has overcompensated for the dodgy one," she said.

"She wanted to play but it was just too tight and she felt it pulling in the first five minutes and she walked over and said 'Nat, I'm going to call it because I want to be playing for the rest of the season, I don't want to be doing an injury'.

Iredell came off at quarter-time with an issue behind her knee.

"It's not a calf, it's not an achilles, it's not a knee, it's not an ankle," O'Dea said.

"It's at the back of her leg but just below her knee. It's a weird injury but it just pulls.

"She was playing some beautiful netball. Her first quarter was so good. She's such a leader, she's got such a good voice."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: