Rochester will have a chance to work its way into the top six of the Goulburn Valley league’s A-grade netball competition when it resumes the season after this weekend’s interleage bye.
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Sitting eighth on the ladder with two wins from its opening six games the team has already faced five of the top-six teams.
In three of the next four weeks it has teams below it on the ladder, Mansfield on May 27 (winless on the bottom of the ladder), Benalla (round eight on June 3, third from the bottom) and Shepparton United (ranked ninth, also with two wins, on June 17).
In round nine action on June 10 the Tigerettes face the other team that sits inside the top six, Euroa.
At the weekend the A-grade team faces the unbeaten Mooroopna and, while managing one winning quarter, was beaten 51-33 after the Cats piled on 27 goals to 14 after half-time.
The Tigerettes will be represented at senior interleage level by Teal Hocking, the only Rochester player of the 21-member squad that will tackle Ovens and Murray at Albury Sports Ground on Saturday, May 20.
Rochester won the second quarter of its match with Mooroopna by a goal, having trailed by six goals at the opening break.
Bridgette Holt and Linda Rasmussen worked tirlessly, Rasmussen in particular on a much taller opponent.
Ava Cottam proved a handful for her opposition with her loose-ball work and Hocking finished with 22 of the team’s 33 goals.
She connected well with Morgan Dingwall, that partnership growing in stature as the pinpoint feeding of the ball to Hocking continues to develop.
Dingwall played in goals for the opening half, shooting six goals before Annie Hughes joined Hocking in the attacking end.
Rochester used 10 players, three in the centre role during the match with only its defensive pair, Hocking and Ava Cottam remaining in place for the entire four quarters.
Mooroopna and Tatura remain on top of the ladder with six wins each, that meeting not scheduled until the split round 11 fixture on June 24.
– Mooroopna’s fifth-ranked B-grade team was much too slick for Rochester in the first half and led by 24 goals at the long break before a Tigerettes comeback.
Rochester was much more competitive in the second half, with Poppy Palmer at her defensive best in wing defence and intercepting well before getting injured.
Charlie Roulston did a power of work across the court and feeding the ball into the ring.
Charlotte Gould finished with 14 of her team’s 27 goals in the 32-shot defeat (27-59), working in tandem with Leila Palmer (nine goals), Jamie Dingwall and Annie Hughes at different times during the match.
Rochester was only outscored by three in the third term when Gould shot nine.
– Rochester’s B-Reserve team sits eighth on the ladder after six rounds, but has a month of winnable netball ahead of it after a draw with sixth-ranked Moooroopna on Saturday.
Trailing by one at quarter time the Tigerettes goalers, Joyce and Zali Hocking shot 13 goals in the second term to give their team a three-goal lead.
The lead changed again at the final break, Mooroopna up by one before a see-sawing game ended in a 45-apiece draw.
Hocking shot 25 of those goals, while Joyce’s single-quarter in goals netted five goals and Marli Cottam also spent in quarter shooting for a seven-goal return.
Hannah Egglestone, the other player used in goals, finished with eight.
Krystal Conder was a force in the centre throughout the entire nail-biting match, as her team remains in the top-six hunt.
Grace Ingram worked tirelessly in defence and Grace Wachter kept her opponent at bay while communicating to the defenders.
In rounds seven and eight the team faces Mansfield and Benalla, both below it on the ladder, before confronting Euroa and Shepp United — marginally ahead of it on points after six rounds.
– Rochester’s Under-17 team came up against a tough opposition, third-ranked Mooroopna, but at quarter-time trailed by just four goals.
The last three quarters, however, were 40-18 in the Cats’ favour and they eventually won 52-26.
Payton Tiller moved into goal attack after starting at goal keeper and shot nine goals for the match.
Maddy Pearce provided drive through the mid-court, chasing down several loose balls.
Kailtyn Joyce shot eight goals and Monica Ingram four in the final term.
A 20-goal second term from Mooroopna blew the result open, with Grace Moyle (who started with five goals in the opening stanza) moving to goal defence in the third term and playing amazing against taller shooters.
Tara Atley provided a lot of direction before Charlize Weeks came on in the final term and added pace.
– A lapse in concentration in the third quarter of the Under-15 game cost Rochester’s Under-15 team a chance to move up the ladder.
Facing fifth-ranked Mooroopna the Tigerettes were outgunned 12 goals to five in the third term after leading by three at quarter-time and trailing by just one at the long break.
The 26-18 three-quarter time scoreline was cut back to a three-goal deficit at the final siren when Rochester outscored its opponent 9-4 to eventually lose 27-30.
Marli Cottam shot 16 of the 27 goals, working in tandem initially with Evia Dyson (five goals) and later Leah Toohill.
Chance Powles and Maddie Howard spent the entire match in the defensive goaling circle, while the mid-court players interchanged regularly in a bid to find the winning mix.
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