Belief building for Burra

SEBASTOPOL coach Kiya Eberle believes a draw with BFNL netball powerhouse North Ballarat will help build further belief within their playing ranks.

A pumped-up Burra came from as many as eight-goals down during the middle part of last Saturday’s contest at Mars Stadium to tie up the game at 56-56.

While they have notched up some impressive victories already this season to be in fifth spot at 6-4-1 ahead of the break, perhaps none have showed exactly just what the Burra are capable of.

They will get the chance to back it up in a week’s time against a rapidly developing Ballarat, which sent a warning of its own to the competition with a 30-goal victory over Bacchus Marsh.

The Swans’ 73-43 win at Maddingly Park came on the heels of a brave effort against North Ballarat in which the margin only blew out in the final few minutes.

Content to share the points, particularly after falling behind earlier in the contest, Eberle said it was the closest the Burra had come to beating the Roosters in her years at the helm as coach.

“It’s been a while. To be honest, we were pretty stoked to come within nine (goals) last time,” she said.

“We were really happy with that. But we were pretty focused (on Saturday), we’ve worked really hard over the last few weeks around our transition game and our defence, and we saw some great outcomes from that.

“It was a great hit-out … nice to have all 10 players in.

“We’ve had a few ins and outs during the first half of the season, so it was great to come up against North with everyone.

“We had to battle back from about eight (goals) during the middle of the game and then we were down by four and really fought our way into the game.

“Give us one more minute and the next centre pass, who knows what happens, but that’s netball.”

The clash had similarities to the teams’ round 7 clash at Marty Busch Reserve, when the Burra found themselves eight goals down at quarter-time.

 

They were on that occasion able to bridge the gap to four goals at one point during the third term and five by three-quarter-time, before losing by nine.

Last Saturday’s draw was a sign of continued growth and improvement.

“We really lost the game last time in the first quarter and did well to keep it (the margin) where it was; this time there was only one goal between us in the first in a really high scoring first quarter,” Eberle said.

“We’ve got some things we have really been working on, so to see that on court and to watch the girls do some problem-solving on court was awesome.”

The win not only shored up the Burra’s own standing in the top six, but knocked North Ballarat from top spot, albeit only on percentage, level on points with Darley.

The Roosters were without young gun Georgia Bodey, while goal attack Poppy Douglass played just the final quarter.

Wing attack Hannah Atkinson provided plenty of spark for the Burra, connecting brilliantly with star goaler Adut Manyiel (36 goals at 85.71 per cent accuracy), whose strong rebounding was as every bit a feature as her shooting, rotating between goal shooter and goal attack.

Maddy Selmon led the Roosters with 39 goals at 80.43 per cent.

Now level on six wins and a draw with fourth-placed Sunbury and a game clear of Ballarat, Eberle is confident the best is still to come for the Burra this season.

“We feel like our game is improving week-in, week-out,” she said.

“We’re able to make mistakes on court and problem-solve those and bring those to training.

“The girls are working so hard – they are so connected.

“The vibe is so positive. We’re really enjoying it.”