Gallery | Excellent Euroa hammer unbeaten Tatura, Bears outduel Swans

It was a scintillating display from Euroa at Tatura Park as it dominated the Bulldogs 46-28 to become the first team to top Tatura in 2023.

Euroa has now won four games on the trot thanks to its latest impressive victory, a streak that has it climb into second spot on the ladder and move ahead of the Bulldogs.

Despite the blockbuster nature of the game heading into it, Euroa coach Ellie Warnock said the side’s approach was the same as it had been all year.

‘’We are thrilled to come away with the win yesterday,“ Warnock said.

“We take every game as serious as the next, so our main focus was ourselves and sticking to our game plan, not focusing on who they are and what they’ve done, instead who we are and what we’ve achieved.

“Each week we head into the match with the same mentality that it’s going to be a really tough match and we need to give 100 per cent from the get-go. We knew if we just focused on ourselves and what we can do as a team then we have the ability to challenge any team we come up against.

‘’It probably wasn’t our prettiest game of netball, but the intensity was consistent for four quarters. If we threw a ball away the girls worked extremely hard to get it back and capitalise on the turnovers.“

The big win was a special way for Eliza Hoare to celebrate her 150th game for the club, while Warnock highlighted some other key contributors on the court.

“Eliza is the heart and soul of Euroa netball. To get the win for her and celebrate what an amazing achievement it is to start playing A-grade netball at such a young age and continue to be such a reliable, consistent player means the world,” she said.

“She continues to grow as a player and a valuable member of our side, so I can’t wait to see what she can achieve throughout the rest of her netball career.

“Tylah Marchbank was sensational in defence winning the Rebel voucher award for displaying the best sportswomanship on the day for Say No to Violence Round. Her work rate was 100 per cent throughout the game, causing an unbelievable amount of turnovers, rebounds and intercepts.

“Kellie Davidson and Eliza were strong and reliable through the midcourt.”

At Deakin Reserve in Shepparton, the Bears claimed bragging rights over their local rivals the Swans thanks to a five-goal victory.

The Bears led by seven goals with three quarters in the book and looked to be in cruise control, but a spirited Swans fightback in the last term tigthened the contest.

The margin got down to as little as three goals at one point, but the Bears were able to hold the Swans at bay to ultimately prevail 66-61.

Bears coach Tracey Brereton said the win was doubley important – both in the battle for finals positions and psychologically.

“It really is a big win. It keeps us ticking along and keeps the wins on the board so we can try and cement ourselves in the top six,” Brereton said.

“I think it was an important win just as a team in general. There have been a few close games that we’ve had.

“We lost to Rochester by one and then we drew with Echuca, so to win a close contest was really important to us just to know what it is like to be able to hold our nerve, absorb the pressure and win.”

Brereton said that previous experience in tight encounters certainly worked in her side’s favour.

“The more games you play in that are like that, I think you get used to playing in those pressure moments. I definitely think that those games assisted us,” she said.

“There is still obviously an issue with us in the fact that we can have such a comfortable margin and be racing along and then make a few errors and let the other team in.

“But on the flip side, teams are going to come at you when you have quality players, so you have to be able to absorb that and keep going.”

While Brereton said it was unfortunate that her side lost control of the game in the fourth for a time, there were still plenty of positive aspects from the win as well.

“We have been working on a few things at training and it was pleasing to see a lot of those things achieved yesterday,” the Bears coach said.

“There were some really pleasing things yesterday. We tried to keep the scoreboard ticking over as much as possible, I loved our defensive play from the back.

“I think we really helped each other as a team try and convert those centre passes, I thought it was a great effort by all.

Around the courts, league leader Mooroopna held on to top spot thanks to a 66-25 win over Benalla, while Seymour defeated Kyabram 51-34.

Rochester toppled Mansfield 55-34 and Echuca was too good for Shepparton United 61-34.