Roosters hit top spot ahead of halfway point of season

NORTH Ballarat playing coach Maddie Fitzpatrick admits the Roosters still have ‘a lot to work on’ despite handing reigning A-grade premier Darley its first defeat of the season last Saturday.

The Roosters replaced the Devils in top spot on the ladder with a stirring 45-40 victory at Mars Stadium.

North Ballarat set up the win with an assured 12-7 first quarter blitz.

Try as they might, the Devils were never able to fully bridge the gap, with the Roosters holding a four to six-goal advantage for most of the contest.

Fitzpatrick hailed a ‘full-team effort’ by her side, which kept its unbeaten status intact, albeit with the one draw against Sunbury.

“It was a brilliant effort by the girls; I found it hard to give a best on court today as I thought across our 10 (players) everyone just played their role and went out there and executed our game plan perfectly,” she said.

“We’re very pleased to get across the line. They are a force.”

 

As they did the week before in their win over Sebastopol, the Roosters set the win up with a bright first term and from there onwards controlling possession with patience and control.

Their centre pass conversion rate was again a key factory against the Devils.

“Something we are also focusing on is our turnover conversion, so not being wasteful,” Fitpatrick said.

“We do turn over a lot of ball.

“The girls did a really good job with that focus today and the stats came out looking really well on that.

“I did feel we were controlled and measured in how we went about it.

“I don’t think we’d played a full 60 minutes of netball until today (last Saturday). It was a good time to pull it all together.”

Maggie Smith proved integral at the defensive end of the court, with a number of telling intercepts and deflections.

“In terms of how much impact Liv (Cawthray) can have on a game, Mags put in a brilliant effort in shutting her down,” Fitzpatrick said.

“We were super-pleased with her intent and effort.

 

“It really paid dividends in the end with how many turnovers and rebounds she got and just how often she got her hands on the ball.”

In trying conditions, Maddy Selmon stood tall at the other end, finishing with 34 goals from just 36 attempts.

North Ballarat will complete its first round commitments this Saturday with a showdown against third-placed Lake Wendouree (5-2-1) at C.E. Brown Reserve.

Fitzpatrick said the Roosters would embrace another tough challenge, knowing they are far from the finished product.

“There’s still so much to work on. You’d be a silly coach thinking you’ve beaten the reigning premiers and you can rest on your laurels,” she said.

“And that won’t be the case.

“Our goaler connections and connections elsewhere on the court we can still work on.

“Darley made it really hard for us to break into our goal third, so that penetration into the goal end is something we can definitely improve on.

“But I was definitely pleased with our effort all over the court.

“Our game plan doesn’t change much, but there are always slight adjustments depending on who we play.”