Round 8 of the Gold Industry Group West Australian Netball League took us to Demons’ home court on Sunday where Southside Demons had a 53-43 win over Peel Lightning.
Demons and Lightning took the court both sitting at four points each on the ladder, making this game the decider of who gets to progress up. The stakes were high and so too were the calls on contact.
Demons had first hands on the ball with Demons’ GA, Nikala Smith, securing her first of 19 goals from 24 attempts.
Lightning missed their opportunity to meet Demons on the scoreboard as the pressure from Demons defence created a held ball.
Demons played combinations from centre to mid court and were looking to feed through to GS, Meg Gallager, who was somehow always there and ready for the shot.
Demons took their time with the ball, ensuring the pass could be successfully made before any further play was set up. Despite the many contact calls on both teams, Lightning lost composure and gave Demons’ defence opportunities to intercept and work the turnover in their favour as Demons left the first quarter with an eight goal lead.
Demons and Lightning went back and forth until Demons found their rhythm and made it look easy as the ball made its way from the centre pass to wing attack and straight through to shooters for a goal.
Demons GD, Chanel Gomes, found space from her attacker to receive passes, intercept and take on the role of playmaker as she created chances for Demons. Lightning produced good netball but found themselves under pressure as they looked around for teammates but began drowning in a sea of Demons red.
The second half was not shy of contact calls as the rivalry competition heated up. Even though Demons were ahead, the defence became flustered with only three minutes left on the clock.
Both sides gave it everything they could for the final quarter and there was a sense of urgency to secure the final goals which lead to poor passing and stepping calls by the umpire. The game ended with Demons successfully securing the win by 10 goals to assist their position on the ladder ahead of Lightning.
In a post-match interview with Josie Janz-Dawson, she said she was really happy with the win but is still looking for that consistency throughout the season.
“Leading into this game it was really important we bounce back, it was a double header this weekend and when you have a not so good game on a Friday you’ve got one day to turn it around so we were focusing on positive energy coming into this Sunday’s game,” Janz-Dawson said.
“In the past if we’re up we just tell everyone what they’re doing is really great and awesome and so we made a point of coaching to say we’ll be making changes, there will be differences so be prepared that what you were doing in the first quarter may be counteractive with the coaching quality on the opposition.
"I think for us it was always doing something different whether that be we used a lot of interchange at particular times throughout the game to change it up but also the players knowing they couldn’t do the same thing over and over for the rest of the game.
“Still really nervous [at halftime] I think particularly in WANL we’ve seen lots of matches where teams have been 10-15 up and opposition has come back so really the advice was momentum can swing with the underdog at any moment and they’ve got more to lose being at the back position so they’ll come out and have a crack so staying on the front foot making sure that we pressed ahead.”
“It [the win] was really important for us, we focused on not only the win but actually steaming ahead so the scoreboard pressure on for the rest of the season… I think it was inspiring for them to know that if they win one more game we’ll be pushing into the top 4 which most clubs are sitting at,” she said.
“We’ve got our consistent performers, Chanel obviously has very long arms and great athletic ability but I definitely the turnaround for us was Nikala today, she’s got great potential each and every game but it was almost like today she was on fire to play the ball quicker than the 1 second and that beat the defenders. It’s not like we have that every single week but when people are playing like that you need to give them the ball as much as possible.”
Janz-Dawson said the venue was really nice and that when the team arrived there was talk of interest to play more games at Southside Demons home court at Willetton Basketball Association.
“It was more that we needed to get up today and that’s was what got us over the line – being actively involved and the bench was extra loud today so that was good as well.”
OPEN DIVISION LADDER
1 West Coast Warriors 12
2 ECU Souwest Jets 8
3 Western Roar 8
4 Curtin Hamersley Comets 8
5 East Freo Sharks 8
6 Southside Demons 6
7 Peel Lightning 4
8 Rangers 2
ROUND 8 SCOREBOARD
Open
Demons 53 defeated Lightning 43
Comets 52 defeated Rangers 48
Jets 51 defeated Warriors 35
Roar 50 defeated Sharks 45
Mens
Warriors 46 defeated Roar 38
Comets 58 defeated Demons 32
20U
Warriors 64 defeated Jets 38
Sharks 45 defeated Roar 39
Lightning 53 defeated Demons 42
Rangers 54 defeated Comets 46
