'Winning feeling is fantastic': Lions win first game, Tiger youngster stars

The proud Lions mentor said her group, who won 54-35 against Panmure away from home on Saturday, scrambled to field a side after four regulars were missing due to injuries, illness and unavailability.

Finck added it was "reward for hard work" for overcoming a tough start to the year.

"I'm incredibly happy, proud of the girls," she told The Standard.

"It's a reward for a lot of hard work at training. We're just lucky we put it all together in the end though.

"We were missing four players, so two players from A reserve came up and to their credit absolutely smashed it."

Finck said mid-courter Lauren Pender was a standout for the Lions, while Meg Downie was pivotal with 37 goals but believed it was an extremely even team effort.

"Lauren's come away with some great intercepts and was brilliant to bring some teammates into the game," she said.

"The feeding into the goals was fantastic, which is something we've been working on. Importantly, we've seen the girls can move into positions they may not always play but give it their all."

The Lions have climbed their way off the bottom of the table and Finck believed it can be the catalyst for more wins this season.

"Speaking to some of the girls, the winning feeling is fantastic," she said..

"It gives us some confidence, knowing we can do what we can do on the court. We rallied as a little netball club today and managed to put it all together. We're not down the bottom anymore and can build confidence from the win I think."

Merrivale, meanwhile, further solidified its second spot after a gritty 48-32 win on the road against Kolora-Noorat.

Tigers mentor Elisha Sobey, who said the Power "never let you get it easy", was pleased to see the group continue to plug away and bank important wins.

"They always give us a run. We just stuck at it," she said.

"I keep drilling into the girls to not look at the scoreboard. With young minds all they want to do is get in front but we've been trying to keep them focused on just playing."

Sobey said teenager Paiyton Noonan was growing in strength and stature each week, with the emerging youngster netting 39 goals in attack.

"She is stepping up for us. It's her first year out of juniors and I've said to her that she's now an A grade player and you can see it," she said.

"She's been with me since day dot, and we're letting her know now she's the senior one in attack.

"She's growing away from just popping them up. She's got a few different players in that mix, and it's great she's not just looking for the ring. She's doing the other stuff, the hard work that comes with it."

Sobey said the Tigers were adapting well this season to some new combinations and were well placed.

"It's our trademark, creating versatility on the court," she said.

"Even Kelsey (Perry) is shooting goals now, but we have to do that now. If we do the same thing that we've done in the past two years we'll get the same result.

"We want to try some new things and keep looking at the future and keep them all motivated."

In remaining matches across the weekend, Nirranda was too good for Dennington in its 64-26 win away from home, Timboon Demons secured an important 54-40 win against Russells Creek and Allansford got the better of Old Collegians to win 38-22.