THE 2025 version of Lake Wendouree is still a work in progress, but A-grade netball coach Courtney McLean spotted some encouraging signs in the Lakers’ three-goal come-from-behind win over Melton on Saturday.<\/p>\n
In a see-sawing contest, the Lakers came from four goals down in the final quarter to claim a stirring 56-53 victory.<\/p>\n
They had earlier led by four goals at half-time, before the Bloods clawed their way to the front at three-quarter-time.<\/p>\n
McLean admitted to plenty of anxious moments throughout the second half as the ascendancy fluctuated, but ultimately could not have been prouder of her players’ resilience.<\/p>\n
“I was pleased to win, but we did not put ourselves in a good position early on,” she said.<\/p>\n
“What pleased me most was the girls’ relentless effort. It could have been easy to say, ‘we’re eight or nine goals down, we can just settle in’, but I never felt we were out of it.<\/p>\n
“It was our own errors that got us down at times.<\/p>\n
“I would say there’s a bit to work on with our attack and transition.”<\/p>\n
The win made it two-from-two for the Lakers this season, following a hard-fought win over a much-improved Bacchus Marsh in round one.<\/p>\n
A strong defensive effort was led by a standout performance from Remi Hooper, with solid support from Audrey Domaille.<\/p>\n
Hooper, who has returned from overseas, is among the newcomers to have bolstered the lineup early in the season.<\/p>\n
Others include impressive young goaler Ebony Porter, who has come across from North Ballarat, and Eliza Williams (elevated from B-grade).<\/p>\n
McLean is hoping the influx of talent can help lift the Lakers beyond last year’s fourth place finish and semi-finals exit.<\/p>\n
“We’ve made finals the last few years, but never quite progressed past the first or second week, so hopefully we can improve on that,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I feel we have got more depth, a great lot of versatility and a nice combination of experienced players and young talent.<\/p>\n
“I’m hoping we smooth out our transitional errors and things start to look a bit nicer.”<\/p>\n
An obvious bright spot for the Lakers continues to be the contributions of their trio of 16-year-olds \u2013 Porter, Domaille and Addison Funcke, who took on the unusual role at wing defence for part of the game.<\/p>\n
McLean gave plenty of credit to a new-look Melton for a brave performance and fierce challenge.<\/p>\n
“They were missing a defender, who would have been pretty handy, and their goal shooter-goal attack combo (Malia Seumanutafa and Akira McCormack) was really strong,” she said.<\/p>\n
The Lakers, whose next assignment is a young Ballarat Swans on Anzac Day, is joined on two wins by North Ballarat, which sits atop the ladder following a 59-48 win over East Point.<\/p>\n
Sunbury warmed up for its Good Friday clash against Redan with a 60-39 win over Darley.<\/p>\n
Sebastopol rebounded from a round one loss to beat Ballarat 47-36.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE 2025 version of Lake Wendouree is still a work in progress, but A-grade netball coach Courtney McLean spotted some encouraging signs in the Lakers’ three-goal come-from-behind win over Melton on Saturday. In a see-sawing contest, the Lakers came from four goals down in the final quarter to claim a stirring 56-53 victory. They had […]<\/p>\n