City West Falcons won the mental battle and took home the points in the Victorian Netball League Championship against Casey Demons on Wednesday night.
The Falcons, who have been in good form, were tested against a full strength Demons side, which included former Australian Diamond Renae Ingles.
After taking a while to settle into the game, the Falcons took control in the second half.
While a few late goals reduced the margin, the Falcons did enough to win 64-60.
Falcons coach Marg Lind was pretty happy with the result.
“It was a good game of netball and a tough one to win,” she said.
“We had no Maggie [Lind] so we had to use Soli [Ropati] in wing attack. It took half a game to get established.
“We did really well as Casey came out firing.”
Lind said they had got the margin out to about eight goals in the last goal, but let the foot off the pedal in the last couple of minutes.
She said for the most part, the group had been really switched on.
“First knowing that Renae was playing and then not having Maggie resulted in the line up changing,” she said.
“The way we played was two major mental wins, we were really pleased. Credit to them.”
Lind said she was really pleased with how Montana Holmes played in centre going head to head with Ingles.
She said Ingles was one player that didn’t allow the Demons to give up the whole game.
It was Ingles first game back after a couple of years having moved to America to support her husband, NBA player Joe Ingles.
“Montana was quite sick last night,” she said. “We weren’t sure if she was going to be able to stand up for the four quarters.”
Lind was also impressed with the game of Lucia Fauonuku in wing defence. She also liked the different combinations they threw on at each end of the court.
“Everyone offered something different, which kept them guessing.”
The division 1 and under-19 sides both also got wins. Lind said with a number of players ill, it was another challenge they had to fight this week.
The Falcons will be back on their home court in Altona this week, as they host the Geelong Cougars in a top of the table clash.
Lind said it would give them a true indication of where they sit.
“Hopefully we can get a really good crowd,” she said. It’s a really good venue and we’ve been lucky enough to get three home games this season.
“Hopefully we can get the result as we are firing on all cylinders. Geelong is a lot more experienced and the most stable side.”
Tara Murray
