Falcons continue on

Montana Holmes (Robbab Photography)

Tara Murray

City West Falcons continue to pile on the goals as they continue their winning streak in the Victorian Netball League championship division.

The Falcons faced Casey last Wednesday, to complete the first half of the season and it was another strong win for the Falcons.

The Falcons were able to build in every quarter on the way to a 76-55 win.

Falcons coach Marg Lind was pretty happy with the result.

“They had a really good win,” she said “Casey on paper looks like a reasonable side.

“We were to consistently get away each quarter.”

Lind said they started off slowly defensively with the Demons having Emma Ryde in the shooting circle.

Once they adjusted their defensive structure, they were able to restrict Ryde’s influence.

Lind said it was a good response from a disappointing defence performance the week before.

“We had a bit of discussion after last week,” she said. “Having Lucia [Fauonuku] back helped with that variety in defence and we were able to throw it around.”

The return of Fauonuku from injury after national duties didn’t end the way they would have liked, with Fauonuku having to go to hospital.

“She looked like she was going to play the full four quarters, but she dislocated her finger and ended up at the Royal Melbourne,” Lind said.

“We couldn’t get it back in, hopefully she’s okay.”

Jane Cook shot 50 goals in another strong performance under the ring. Uneeq Palavi got the start in goal attack, with Lind keen to keep her options open.

“We don’t have a starting seven this year,” she said. “It’s important to have options as we lose a few players to the world championships.”

Lind said their attacking end was fairly strong in the win, with minimal errors and a lot of patience.

She said overall it was a really good team performance.

The Falcons sit on top at the half way mark with eight wins and a loss. Boroondara Express and Geelong Cougars, who are second and third, are on the same amount of wins.

Lind said with the closeness of the competition they need to continue to ensure they are posting big scores and not having any slip ups.

She said the work that the group puts in on conditioning, through both weights and pilates was really paying off as well as helping make the club more inclusive.

The Falcons this week face the Geelong Cougars.

The Cougars are the only team to beat the Falcons this year, back in round one.