Monash pushed and pushed but ultimately came up short,
falling to UB Ballarat Pride by 10 goals on Wednesday night at the State
Netball & Hockey Centre.
Central faced an uphill battle all night, yet started the
match exceedingly well with Ramayer Gourley nailing her first four shots.
Like previous weeks, her stint in the goals was short-lived,
when Monash called a mid-quarter time out and swapped Gourley to the defensive
end to counter the Pride’s tall, accurate shooters.
In partnership with Alice Ditchfield, the pair combined
beautifully to restrict the Pride ever truly putting Monash away.
After 10-15 first quarter, the Pride threw away
opportunities to extend their margin while Monash’s goalers Natalie Billings
and Rhys Carter-Coleman took theirs to bring the deficit back to three.
However, it became Monash’s turn to fall back into bad
habits with audacious passing, as Pride blew the lead out 8, before another
late surge by Central saw the quarter concession even up; the score 20-25 in
Prides favour at the long break.
The third quarter saw arguably Monash’s best netball of the
season, if not in recent weeks.
Monash looked to have winners all over the court, with Wing
Defence Tayla Kearns fantastic in shutting down her opposition and predating on
every loose ball.
Jamie Collins was her usual lively self and found some
excellent avenues of supply for Billings (24 from 29) and Carter-Coleman (15
from 21) to convert.
The work of goalers couldn’t be underestimated as both girls
fed each other goals at regular intervals to win the quarter 12,-9 and bring
score back to 34-37.
Yet, slightly undermanned on the bench, tired legs and
mental fatigue kicked in as the Pride ran away with the win, capitalising on
Monash’s mistakes and converting their scoring opportunities to win 53-43.
Monash Assistant Coach Sharon Hook told monashuniversitycentral.com.au, that after the confidence taken
from last week’s performance against the ladder-leading City West Falcons,
tonight’s match wasn’t totally out of left-field.
“Mentally, the girls were really up for the challenge and
for three quarters, we really pushed the envelope to get into a winning position,”
Hook said.
“We got tired and the game plan, which we’d executed really
well In the first three quarters, fell away and as a result, we probably lost
by more than what we should have.
“Our passing options fell away and what we stuck to
before…we just weren’t able to carry it, especially in that last ten minutes.”
Despite a lean win-loss record for the season, Hook said the
side were maintaining a positive approach for their remaining matches of season
2013.
“We took a lot of confidence from the way we finished last
week,” Hook said.
“That can’t be underestimated. We went in with a positive
mindset and I think we’re quite disappointed that we couldn’t grab this one
tonight.
“We’ve got five games left and realistically we should be
looking to challenge wins in two or three of those. If we can come away with
those, that’ll be a nice note to finish on.”
Monash face the second-placed Boroondara Genesis, next
Wednesday night at the State Netball and Hockey Centre in a match that – on
Monash’s recent form – shouldn’t be solely taken at face value.
FINAL SCORE: Monash
University Central 43 def. by UB
Ballarat Pride 53
MUC SCORERS: Natalie
Billings 24 (83%); Rhys Carter Coleman 15 (72%); Ramayer Gourley 4 (100%)
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