Swans surge continues with win over Roos

WINLESS since June of 2024 until a few weeks ago, Ballarat will be chasing three straight victories when they clash with Melton at MacPherson Park on Saturday.

A rejuvenated Swans made it two wins on the trot last weekend with a 55-38 victory over East Point at Alfredton Recreation Reserve.

It was the perfect follow-up to their drought-breaking 8-goal win over Redan the previous week.

Combined with a round 3 draw against third-placed Lake Wendouree, the Swans have suddenly established themselves as one of the competition’s in-form teams.

They sit in seventh spot on the ladder, two points behind both fifth-placed Sebastopol and sixth-placed Bacchus Marsh.

A convincing 17-goal win was again led by star goal shooter Dakota Blaze, who slotted 41 goals from 46 attempts in another dominant performance.

Encouragingly for the Swans, the win was achieved without defensive recruit Finn Mckeagney-Stubbs and last year’s best and fairest Famke McCallum, who is overseas.

Co-coach Lisa Palmer hailed the win as an important one for the Swans in consolidating their good recent form.

“There were a lot of players with strong games; Jacinta McKenzie was great in circle defence without Finn; Abbie O’Brien was amazing and Ella Shannon came in and ran centre, allowing us to play Xara Burge back in circle defence as well,” she said.

“All the girls got good court time and all got to play a role.

“We had a couple of girls who weren’t available for different reasons, but we had a 17-year-old Ava Verrier, who came in and played for Famke McCallum and she was outstanding in goal attack alongside Dakota.

“That was a real positive.

“She did exactly what she needed to do in her supporting role, while Dakota was amazing again.”

 

Verrier finished with 11 goals from 12 attempts to take some of the pressure of Blade, who shot a season-high in goals scored and is averaging 33 per game in the early part of the season.

Again the Swans’ versatility was on display, with as many as five of their nine players trading roles throughout the game.

Palmer said one area that needed to be addressed was her side’s continued slow starts, albeit paying credit to East Point for bringing the fight.

Down by 1-goal at quarter time, the Swans won the next three quarters.

While it is one of the oldest cliches in the book, it genuinely is a case of one week at a time for Ballarat, with Palmer saying their focus stretched only as far as the Bloods this weekend.

“When you have a lot of new players coming in, like young Ava, it does take a little while for the team to find those connections,” she said.

“Defensively we have been really strong, but I think we are finding our flow in attack now.

“Our team is very young – there are a few who can still play under-19s and do play under-19s – so we do have youth.

“The connections are building, but we have to allow time for the team to settle.

“Wins are nice, but hopefully we are closing the gap a bit on sides, and for us as coaches, we are creating an environment where people want to come to Swans again.”

Elsewhere, top of the ladder Darley moved to 5-0 with a 59-43 win over Lake Wendouree.

Sarah Mason stepped up to shoot 36 goals at 90 per cent for the under full-strength Devils, ably supported by Akira McCormack (23 at 92 per cent).

At Maddingley Park, Bacchus Marsh picked up its third win with a 46-33 win over Redan.

Kim Phillips was in great touch with 30 goals at 90.91 per cent.

North Ballarat (4-0-1), with playing coach Maddie Fitzpatrick leading the way, was too strong for Melton in an 88-33 victory.

At Clarke Oval, Sebastopol pushed Sunbury all the way, but came up 3 goals short in a 54-51 loss, with goalers Caitlin Hill (Sunbury) and Adut Manyiel in top form for their respective sides.