Lightning strikes in Bendigo

THE Bendigo Strikers championship team was left to lament a poor opening quarter, after going down by seven goals to VNL rivals Melbourne University Lightning on Sunday at Red Energy Arena.

Coming off a confidence-boosting round one win over Boroondara Express, the Strikers were perilously slow out the blocks, trailing by 10 goals at quarter time.

While they did well to rein in the margin to four goals by half-time and still be in touch at three-quarter time, down by six goals, the Strikers were always playing catch up.

That effort told in the final quarter as the Lightning slightly extended the gap for a 48-41 victory in a low scoring affair.

It was almost a carbon copy start by the Strikers from their clash against the Express, during which they trailed by three goals after five minutes.

But while they were able to recover to notch up a three-goal lead at quarter time in that game, there would be no such revival against the Lightning, who led 17-7 at the first break.

A disappointed Strikers coach Tracey Brereton said her side could ill-afford to give away big early leads to teams of the ilk of the Lightning, boasting a large core of players who have been together over many seasons.

“We were a bit slow in our first quarter against the Express, but against the Lightning, we just couldn’t quite get it together, then all of a sudden you are down by 10 goals at the first break,” she said.

“It’s a bit of a mountain too high to climb. When you pull out all stops to pull it back, it means you must convert every opportunity.

“You can’t afford to throw any more ball away or have any errors, but we all know there will be errors.

“That first quarter really hurt us, but in saying that, we did win the second quarter by six goals, so we did pull it right back.

“But maybe we just ran out of tickets trying to get back.

“It just wasn’t our day with some connections here and there; we certainly had enough ball to win it.

“But it was a low scoring game, so you can clearly tell both teams wasted a lot of opportunity.”

 

With Teal Hocking unavailable, her 2025 Kangaroo Flat premiership teammate and former Melbourne Vixen Ruby Barkmeyer suited up for the Strikers for the first time.

She finished as the team’s most effective shooter, albeit it no slight on her partner in the circle Hayley Howard, who backed her up impressive Strikers debut from the previous week with another sound performance.

Skipper Elle McDonald toiled hard in wing defence, while Shae Clifford was steady in the midcourt in an overall patchy performance by the Strikers.

Defender Dayna Williams also made her Strikers’ debut.

Brereton said it went without saying the Strikers would love to see more of Barkmeyer but fully understood her current plight to not commit full-time.

“It was great to finally get her into a Bendigo dress,” she said.

“Of course we would love to have her, but it’s a long time driving up and down that road and being part a part of the Vixens and the Express and elite netball, so I don’t blame her if she doesn’t want to do it full time.”

It was an opportunity missed by the Strikers; a win would have set them up as the only 2-0 team after two rounds in what’s already shaping as a tighter than usual competition.

They sit fifth on the ladder behind a group of teams all with a win and a draw, including Hawks, Lightning, North East Blaze and Geelong Cougars.

Brereton is backing her side to bounce back hard against Western Warriors, when the two third-year teams clash at Cobblebank Stadium this Sunday at 3pm.

“It’s a bit tricky with these Sunday games; when you have them you train on a Wednesday,” she said.

“When you have girls in other programs (Mavs etc.) or travelling back and forth, they aren’t all there on a Wednesday.

“It will be better when we get into that routine of playing Wednesday games and training Sundays.

“But all clubs deal with it when they have people from high programs, or travelling bits and pieces, so it is what it is.

“I’ll back us to bounce back, but there are some real key things we need to nail and clean up.”

Meanwhile, the Strikers 23-and-unders slipped to 1-1 following an 11-goal loss to the Lightning.

In the earliest game on Sunday, the Strikers’ VNL Reserves team drew 46-46 with the Lightning.

The Strikers sit in fourth position on the ladder at 2-1-1 after four rounds, with a clash against the Warriors also scheduled for Sunday.