By Justin Flynn
Corio’s unbeaten start to the Geelong & District Netball League season has coach Shayna Brown excited for the rest of the season.
The Devils won a cliffhanger last week by one goal against Inverleigh to keep their unbeaten record intact and while it wasn’t a wake-up call as such, it was the type of game they needed.
“It’s been a really good start and I’m just hoping we can keep this momentum up,” Brown said.
“We had a really tough game against Inverleigh, which is something we really needed early because we haven’t really had someone go goal for goal for four quarters with us. We needed to have a tough game like that and to come out with the W was great.”
Brown said the win against the Hawks was a “grind”. Inverleigh has lost three games by three goals or less and is clearly better than its 2-4 record indicates.
“Considering we’ve got a few injured at the moment, it was a four-quarter grind,” she said.
“We’ve been patchy in previous games and that probably wasn’t our greatest game, but the fact that we held on for four quarters was great because in previous years we’ve had really close games like that and kind of let them slip away.
“It just goes to show the depth that we’ve got and the versatility like moving Kailah-Mae (Keepen) around. She started wing attack, went to goal attack, then to goal defence.”
With Jorden Nichols out injured, Brown was forced to team up with Jordyn Fairchild in attack with the pair combining for all 45 goals.
Brown said Inverleigh was the first side this season to pressure star midcourter Molly Gribble for four quarters.
She said the aim this season is finals and having already won six games would allow her to rest some of her older players later in the season.
“Obviously finals is the goal and to get there without having to rely on other teams to win and lose games,” Brown said.
“Six wins early relieves a lot of pressure. We’ve got a couple of older bodies on the court, so we do have depth that we should be able to rest some of those girls.”
The Devils take on Thomson this weekend with towering goal shooter Cheyenne Philpott looming as a major danger.
ANAKIE thrashed Bell Post Hill to settle into third spot on the ladder with defender Felicia Toleafoa in scintillating form.
EAST GEELONG was far too good for Geelong West with wing attack Laura Rowe best on court.
BANNOCKBURN defeated Werribee Centrals by nine goals with defender Erin Dillon and goal attack Ella Wasik best.
THOMSON got the better of North Geelong thanks to starring roles from defender Julia Mitchell and wing defence Ebony Lillico.
WINCHELSEA defeated Belmont by five goals with Rhiannon Williams best at goal defence while goal shooter Angelique Ross was best for the Lions.
