23-and-unders secure second straight finals berth

A PLUCKY two-goal win over Casey Demons has the Bendigo Strikers 23-and-under team breathing a sigh of relief, after finally sewing up a spot in this season’s VNL finals series.

Pushed to the brink by the Demons, whose own finals aspirations were on the line at Mercy Junortoun Sports Precinct on Sunday, the Strikers held on for a nail-biting victory.

Little separated the two teams all game.

While the margin was three goals at quarter-time and three-quarter-time and four at half-time, the Demons had the game on level terms on three occasions during the final term, including with three minutes to play.

But with the Strikers’ defence, brilliantly led by Eliza Mooney, coming up with some key stops and intercepts, goalers Jorja Clode and Ella Kerlin were able to combine for the final two goals of the game to put the seal on an exhilarating victory.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak and finally gave the Strikers the win they had so desperately craved for weeks to cement a finals berth for the second year in a row.

 

It was timely in more ways than one.

“We really needed a win to get a shot of momentum going into finals,” coach Fiona Boyer said.

“There were moments through the game I started to question whether we were going to get there, but the girls were tough.

“It was good to pull through in a close one, and to do it at home.

“They are must-win games, especially when finals are on the line.”

Boyer hailed her side’s response to the Demons’ many surges as immense.

“The girls just knuckled down and remained calm and steady,” she said.

“They knew they needed to get turnover ball.

“We led most of the game and while they did get it back to a level a few times, I felt we were in control for most of it.”

A crucial win became even more important in the aftermath, when it was learned Western Warriors had upset top-placed Geelong Cougars in Geelong.

A loss for the Strikers would have left them level on 36 points with both the Demons and Warriors and only two points clear of their final-round opponent Hawks and in danger of missing finals altogether.

 

Coming off a season-high 51 goals in a loss to Geelong, Clode again shone for the Strikers with 36 goals at 94.74 per cent accuracy.

Boyer was extremely pleased with the efforts of her defenders – Mooney, Harriett Whiteacre, Alice Kain and Asha Grey at wing defence.

“They were good at the stages they needed to be, to win another ball for us,” she said.

“They weren’t afraid either, they kept attacking the ball, which was nice to see.

“They did all of that really well.”

Star goaler Clode identified greater in-game consistency as a key in Sunday’s win.

“It’s unfortunate, it just came down to we weren’t playing our best netball for the whole game,” she said of their recent close losses.

“We’d have really good bits and then we’d drop a bit, and then we’d get really good again, but sometimes we’d just dig ourselves into too deep of a hole to come back.

“If we can play good, consistent netball throughout whole quarters and the whole game, I don’t think anyone can stop us really.”