Strikers 23-and-unders aiming to lock up finals spot

The equation is simple for the Bendigo Strikers 23-and-under team against Casey Demons this Sunday.

Win and the Strikers play finals; lose and their finals fate won’t be known until after next Wednesday night’s round 18 clash against Hawks, one of four teams fighting for just two open finals vacancies.

The Strikers, currently fifth at 9-7, will enter their clash against the seventh-placed Demons (7-7-2) one win ahead of their rival and also the eighth-placed Western Warriors (8-8).

Their round 18 opponent Hawks are sixth at 8-8-1, having lost their chance to progress up the ladder with a 47-51 loss to North East Blaze on Wednesday night this week.

The Warriors need a win over top side Geelong Cougars (13-1-2) this Sunday to remain in contention.

It’s opened the door for the Strikers to finally take control of their destiny, having missed their chances through a four-game losing streak, the latest a 64-71 loss to the Cougars last week.

Boyer conceded there was a sense of urgency around Sunday’s clash with so many teams in contention for just two open finals spots.

“I feel as though we are far from safe; we need to win these next couple of games, but you also want to be in that (winning) sort of form going into finals,” she said.

“You can only take that as a good thing. It’s a good rehearsal for a finals campaign.

“No doubt Demons and Hawks both want our spot and we lost to Casey last time.

“We absolutely need to make sure we don’t let that happen again.”

A finals berth will be the Strikers’ second in their three years in the competition, having qualified for the first time last season.

The margin was eight goals the Demons way in their round 8 contest, with the Strikers missing star goal shooter Jorja Clode.

Her importance can be gauged by a stellar 51-goal performance last week against the Cougars at 96.23 per cent accuracy (just two misses).

She is averaging 42.2 goals per game in her last five appearances.

Boyer could not the fault the effort of her side against Geelong and insisted a repeat would go a long way to setting them up against the Demons.

“Geelong played extremely well – just a great side,” she said.

“But I thought we played well too. Geelong was just clinical from the start.

“We were slow to get going, but unfortunately that costs you the game and has a few times this season.

“It was high-scoring … (135 goals) is a lot in an hour of netball, but it was great netball.”

“Jorja was strong and a great target in attack. She has had an extremely consistent season and has really enjoyed it.”

The margin at quarter time was eight, but only seven at game’s end.

Like the championship team, the 23s will enter Sunday’s game at 2-2 in games played in Bendigo.

Boyer hopes a return to familiar surrounds at Junortoun will brings out the best in her side.

“We go in confident. We know we’ve put a lot of work into it and whilst we didn’t win against Geelong, we certainly played very well,” she said.

“I feel we carry a bit of form into it and there’s no reason why we can’t come out with a win.

“Hopefully there is a bit of noise and support around us playing at home.”

Sunday’s 23-and-under game starts at 1.10pm.