Rumbalara has secured its first points of the Murray Netball League campaign, overcoming a difficult Moama side in round one with a 37 to 27 win.
An exciting season-opener gave fans exactly what they wanted, with the two Murray League powerhouses at each other’s throats early.
A-grade coach Jess Bamblett said there was little to separate the two sides in the opening few terms.
“It started really even, both teams were neck and neck, our shooters stood up, the attackers slowed down the play and that allowed us to get our groove back and we managed to run away with it,” Bamblett said.
“At one stage there were just four goals in it, we just kept rolling with it and it rolled out to 10 goals in the end.”
Bamblett said her goalers proved vital to the team’s performance, with goal-scorer Natasha Atkinson-Brown already looking well-set for a standout Murray League season.
“Tash Atkinson-Brown really rose to the occasion and was moving very well, Maggie with her passes and Bridget coming into the centre was great.”
“Everyone stuck to their role and executed the plan to finish out the game which is a really good sign for round one.”
With Rumbalara’s netball side already looking like a well-oiled machine, Bamblett said signs were nothing but positive after a busy pre-season.
“The pre-season that we had, it did prove that we can run out the whole game and play a strong four quarters,” she said.
“Both defensive games were really good, it was a hard-fought game right until the fourth quarter.”
The remaining round one results would certainly have local netball fans excited, with a number of fixtures going right down to the wire around the Murray.
Deniliquin and Barooga played out a nail-biter on the Rams’ home court — the home side getting up by just six points in the opener.
Nathalia’s journey to Mulwala proved to be fruitful, the Purples coming away with a 34-27 win to kick-start their highly-anticipated 2022 campaign.
Echuca United’s premiership defence has started shakily after it suffered a resounding 63-37 thumping at the hands of Tongala.
Meanwhile, a new-look Congupna outfit has done the business over Numurkah, Ash Warren’s side firing a warning shot to the rest of the league with a dominant 65-20 win.
Lastly, Finley find themselves in second spot with a strong 44-29 win over Cobram.