Mooroopna's Dayna Williams won the Jenny Barlow Medal for her performance in defence against Shepparton United.
Photo by
Liam Nash
After a fortnight adrift from usual dominance, Mooroopna roared back to form in quintessential Cats’ fashion on Saturday.
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Away to Shepparton United in the Goulburn Valley League, Di Hanslow’s charges rebounded from tight losses against Shepparton and Euroa with a clinical, ruthless, and professional 29-goal triumph over the Demons.
Mooroopna boasted a youthful bounce to its step, with teenage talents Rhani Hendy, Bridie Kelly and Claudia Plattfuss playing major minutes in a tie that the Cats never looked in trouble of losing.
Shepparton United's Olivia Kirby receives the ball while on the move.
Photo by
Liam Nash
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Mooroopna's Claudia Plattfuss launches a long pass into the middle of the court.
Photo by
Liam Nash
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Shepparton United's Grace McInenny calls for an option to present itself.
Photo by
Liam Nash
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Mooroopna's Ashley Lancaster drained 45 goals against the Demons.
Photo by
Liam Nash
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Shepparton United's Shinea Sali was industrious in her wing attack post.
Photo by
Liam Nash
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Shepparton United's Hannah Onley dishes off a give and go.
Photo by
Liam Nash
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Mooroopna's Dayna Williams bares a smile during the game’s late stages.
Photo by
Liam Nash
“We're still right in this; we're still right up there as one of the strongest teams at the moment,” she said.
“We've just got to eliminate those few errors; we've got a lot of young kids out there, but they're doing an amazing job.
“We're really pleased and that's what it's all about, is giving these young kids an opportunity and they're stepping up week after week and getting stronger and stronger.”
Without Genna Ogier in attack, Mooroopna looked to Ashley Lancaster to lead the line and she did so with aplomb from the jump.
The Cats cruised out to a 14-7 lead at quarter time as United lost its own star shooter, Abby Gilmore, early into the clash.
Mooroopna put the stick into fifth during the second term, piling on 17 goals to the Demons’ seven, as Bree Hanslow and Jacqui Ball provided great impact as rotation players.
Hanslow continued to swing the magnets in the third quarter during yet another dominant period for the Cats, with a five-goal run taking the buffer past 20.
And despite a late Demons kick, Mooroopna simply had too much in the tank.
The Cats outscored United 15-10 in the final exchange to snare a 60-31 victory, with defensive general Dayna Williams collecting the Jenny Barlow Medal for best-on-court.
Saturday’s result bumped Mooroopna into fifth on the ladder, putting to bed a rough run of losses and confirming to Hanslow the win-hungry Cats of old have not gone anywhere.
“I was pleased because obviously we've had a few close losses and we haven't been at all discouraged by those because they could have gone either way,” she said.
“It just doesn't take much to change those sorts of games, so we feel like we've been playing some good netball.
“This was a game that we needed to be able to really consolidate and do well in, even though we had a lot of turnovers that we probably didn't consolidate.
“That's something going forward we will really need to keep building on, particularly when you come up against such strong quality opposition.”
Meanwhile, the round’s other top six clash between Tatura and Seymour delivered in spades - and then some.
The hosting Lions led by a goal at the opening break but Tatura bit back to steer ahead by four by the half and six at three-quarter time.
Seymour, however, drilled six uncontested goals in the fourth term with a Ruby Martin effort in the dying minutes levelling the game 43-all at the siren.
Elsewhere, Shepparton fended off some early pressure from Mansfield to snatch a 54-35 win while Euroa accounted for Shepparton Swans 70-52.
Rochester and Benalla played out a thriller with the former taking the spoils 37-31, while Echuca dug out a six-goal victory over Kyabram as stalwart Ashlea Hare celebrated her 300th senior GVL game.
