Lakers still finding their way after mixed performance

ON track to play finals as the BFNL season reaches the halfway mark, Lake Wendouree coach Meg Porter and her side are taking nothing for granted.

The Lakers dropped to 5-3-1 with a hard-fought yet inconsistent 51-43 loss to top side North Ballarat last Saturday at C.E. Brown Reserve.

Porter branded their win-loss record as both a ‘fairly accurate’ reflection of their season to date and a solid foundation, albeit she is still coming to terms with where the Lakers actually sit in the title race.

“The losses have been disappointing as we know we can probably do better,” she said.

“When we lost to Sunbury and North Ballarat … they are bloody good teams, but we know our girls are too.

“It’s sort of liked we panicked a little bit and I don’t know if that’s because we are young.

“The previous week against Bacchus, the girls were amazing and they piled on the pressure.

“I think the girls know themselves that they can go up a notch.

“But it’s so tight; it’s seven or eight teams fighting for six spots.

“While I’m glad none of our losses were massive, it’s hard to earn the four points as well, but we really don’t know whether we will be playing finals or not.

“Hopefully we will as I feel we have another gear.”

Highlighting their current predicament perfectly, the Lakers have strung together consecutive wins only once this season, in rounds 1 and 2.

Their last six games have followed a WLWLWL pattern.

Echoing the words of North Ballarat playing coach Maddie Fitzpatrick, Porter agreed last Saturday’s game was one of ‘peaks and troughs’.

“It was a really bad start, but we worked our way back. The second quarter was awesome,” she said.

“They fought so hard to get it back to even.

“But then we had a terrible start to the third quarter and that put us well behind.

“The last was goal-for-goal, which didn’t really matter.

“It was a weird sort of game. Their (North Ballarat’s) pressure down the court was amazing.

“They set a good zone and are very controlled and calm.”

Assistant coach Sadie Cheesman led from the front for Lakers against a rotating cast of Roosters opponents, while wing defence Rosie Todd and goal keeper Kate Drew battled hard.

The obvious standout, however, was young goal shooter Ebony Porter, who adapted to the wet and windy conditions superbly, finishing with 28 goals from 30 attempts at 93.33 accuracy.

Their next four games will toss up Redan, which broke through for its first win of the season last Saturday against Melton, Sunbury, Melton and Ballarat, which finished within three goals of reigning premier Darley.

Porter said ladder positions would have no bearing on their clash against Redan, a team she believed had too much talent to be sitting in ninth spot and was close to breaking through for its first win a week earlier in a 33-30 loss to East Point.