GVL netball | New-look Magpies destroy young Eagles

By Zac Standish

Apr 10, 2022

A new-look Euroa outfit made a grand Goulburn Valley League A-grade netball statement on Saturday afternoon, destroying Mansfield 68-25 on its Memorial Oval home court.

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Led by coach Ellie Warnock in defence, Kellie Davidson through the mid-court and new recruit Bridget Hill in attack, the Magpies’ class overwhelmed the young Eagles who struggled to get any offense going across the four quarters.

Assesing options: Euroa’s Kellie Davidson. Photo by Zac Standish

Speaking post-match, Warnock said she was incredibly proud of her team’s efforts.

“I am a really happy coach today after that performance, we have a couple of new additions to the side in Tylah Marchbank and Bridget Hill and they have just made a massive difference,” Warnock said.

“Being our first time playing together, the talk and chemistry on the court really impressed me and the morale around the club is just fantastic at the moment so we will be looking to continue to ride that momentum.”

It was a tight start to proceedings, with some early season rust from both teams seeing the contest evenly poised in the early stages.

Ready for action: Mansfield’s Isabella Riley. Photo by Zac Standish

But once Euroa settled into its work there was no looking back, as intense pressure up the court allowed for the uber-talented Hill to get some clean looks at the goal.

Taking a seven-point lead into the first change, the Magpies were slick in the second and third terms, holding Mansfield to just 11 goals to take a lead of 33 into the last.

In control: Mansfield’s Cass Dolling. Photo by Zac Standish

And while they would have been forgiven for putting the cue back in the rack, Euroa made sure to continue its dominance right until the final siren, not giving Mansfield an inch to come away with a telling 43-goal triumph.

In her first game for the Magpies, Hill was adjudged best on court, while Karly Wappett and Davidson were also prolific.

Dependable: Euroa coach Ellie Warnock. Photo by Zac Standish

“Having only trained with us once it was really exciting to see Bridget (Hill) on court today, it didn’t take long at all for us to trust her,” Warnock said of Hill’s dominant performance.

“Bree Poole did a lot of work off the ball to create those opportunities for Bridget, so it was great to see our attacking duo work so well in tandem.

“We don’t want to get too excited (about the win) though, I am really proud of what we did today, but we are going to have to replicate it next week when we take on Echuca which will be a tough test.”