Central Coast recorded their sixth straight victory on Wednesday evening as they bumped GWS Fury back down the standings with a 62-38 win at the Genea Netball Centre.
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Despite Heart’s strong goal haul in the win, it was the club’s “ever-improving” defence that coach Amber Cross believes was the key.
It’s a marked improvement over the 2017 campaign, as Central Coast leaked a league-high average of 54.2 goals a game even as they out-scored the next best attacking team by 34 goals over the course of the year.
The problem needed solving if Heart were to compete, Cross had said at the beginning of the Premier League season, and the club may just have found the solution with a defender that likes to “hunt”.
“After last season I wanted to knuckle down and hone in on our defensive structures, and the girls have really embraced that,” Cross explained. “The defence has also been shored up a lot with Natarlia [Bridges], who brings a different element to the team.”
“She really likes to hunt, instead of being one-on-one she likes to look for the ball. That style gives us something different that we were missing in the last two years. She brings a lot of experience and plays with fantastic instinct.
“I was aware of Nat for a long time [before signing her] and she’s always been a really instinctive player who could read the game exceptionally well. Her strength is picking off balls coming down court. It slowed GWS a lot, because they rely on that second phase off the centre.”
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Heart’s core defensive unit has been made up of Sophie Buckley (centre), Alicia Walsh (wing defence), Bridges (goal defence) and Laura Rodger (keeper) in recent weeks, a formula that has now seen Heart concede just 44.8 goals a game.
“Our defensive effort slowed GWS enough to keep us ahead in the game,” Cross said. “Our goal was to implement that in the match and we did that right from the start. We turned over balls all over the court, and overall it was a fantastic team performance for our defensive end.”
Heart’s victory also sets up a blockbluster seventh round, as league-leaders Heart come up against second placed ERNA Hawks.
“Eastwood Ryde is going to be a major test for us,” Cross said. “They’ve been a team that has been in the top two or three of the competition since the league has begun, and they’ve been missing a lot of players from the start of the season due to Australian Netball League commitments.”
“Next week they’ll have their full roster available barring any injuries. We’ll come up against their top line-up next week, and it’s going to be a real litmus test to see where we truly stand going into the second round.”
Elsewhere on Wednesday evening, Sabina Gomboso and North Shore United polished off the struggling Panthers, 70-57, to move just a single win away from the league’s top four.
Gomboso’s fifth-placed squad will face UTS Sparks – currently teetering just a single win above the cellar – next round, and prepare for another chance to bag two crucial points for the league standings.
In the development division, Central Coast’s under 20s squad fell 34-47 to Fury, while North Shore’s young squad – Dakota Thomas’ team – took a 10-goal victory over Panthers, 56-46.
OPENS TABLE: Central Coast (12), ERNA (10), GWS (8), Sutherland (6), North Shore (6), Manly Warringah (4), UTS (2), Panthers (0)