Lavish praise for Burra as Lions tough it out

SUNBURY coach Kim Bailey has warned that BFNL rivals would underestimate Sebastopol at their peril, after the side survived a close shave against the Burra in round 5 of BFNL netball.

Despite leading for throughout the contest and at times pushing the margin out beyond the final 3-goal margin, the Lions were never able to fully shake a determined Burra, attempting to bounce back from a round 4 loss to Lake Wendouree.

A five-goal margin at three-quarter time was reduced to 54-51 at full time.

While there are no shortage of contenders for the title as the league’s most improved team, among them Ballarat, Bacchus Marsh and Lake Wendouree, even accounting for the fact the Lakers were semi-finalists last year, Bailey

“They are a really good team,” she said.

“We’ve played Darley and North (Ballarat) and they are exceptional, but this is a really well improved team.

“They’ve got great defenders. Taylor Finch was playing (VNL) at Warriors for a while their goal keeper Alice Kain plays 23s at Bendigo Strikers and she is a really good player.

“Their midcourters were good, especially Tahlia Watts, who has been doing some training with us down at Warriors, and Adut (Manyiel) was really strong and tall at goal shooter and Lauren Bell was sensational.

“They were exceptional and that’s what we want, that strong competition.

 

“I was really impressed by them.”

Pleased to emerge with a win after sharing the points with North Ballarat in a round 4 draw, Bailey was impressed with how her players dug in.

“We had to swing Charlize Bellette into goal keeper, as Elly (Randall) was just not tall enough to get a hold of Adut, so we made that change; and we had Emily Conn from B-grade come on and help us out,” she said.

“She’s an absolute jet and took some timely intercepts.

“We struggled through it, but the main thing is we got the win.

“We’re not in the best of form, so we just need to keep fighting through and getting some wins.

“If we win ugly that’s okay.

“A sign of a good team is that even if you aren’t playing well, you can fight it out. But we have some work to do if we want to be a contender.

“But I was very impressed with Sebastopol – they will give some teams a real fright.”

Goal attack Caitlin Hill (23 goals at 76.67 per cent) came up big in crucial moments, while goal shooter Amalani Fauonuku (31 at 79.94 per cent) loomed large in her second game for the day, having played for Caulfield Grammar in the morning.

In the midcourt, Tayla Honey provided her trademark composure and steadiness, which ultimately proved decisive to the outcome.

The Lions are still sweating on a diagnosis on the severity of Sarah Croft’s knee injury, while Abigail Inglis remains sidelined with a back injury.

Bailey is bracing for another tough test this weekend against Bacchus marsh, which bounced back from a loss to Darley before its bye to defeat Redan 46-33.

“They are another big improver, so it’s going to be tough again,” she said.

“There really are no easy games, which is awesome for the league.

“You want to see hard tussles every week to keep everyone on their toes.”