East Freo Sharks have celebrated co-captain Emma Cosh’s 100th game in style, with a 60-46 victory over ECU Souwest Jets at the Gold Netball Centre on Friday night.
The Sharks remain top of the table and is the only team in the league to have four wins in four, with their counterpart Jets now left winless in all four rounds.
West Coast Fever training partner and Sharks attacker Emma Cosh said her side will be a force to be reckoned with this season in the Gold Industry Group West Australian Netball League season.
“I think we can go all the way; I am pretty confident in us,” she said.
Underdogs Jets showed their intentions early on, forcing the Sharks to fumble in the attacking third, keeping the opening term to a 10-10 draw.
Both teams continued to fight tooth and nail in the second quarter with back-to-back scoring on both ends. Jets’ wing attack Brooke Gibson was a standout in the first half with her quick feet and clean ball movement. Experienced Sharks defender Jessica Penny was rather quiet in the first half, as mistakes at the back allowed the Jets to lead 25-22 at half-time.
Both teams battled fatigue and showed signs of slowing in the third quarter, however, it was Sharks’ goal attack Emma Cosh that inspired her side in the domination of possession going forward.
The much sharper Sharks with their quick centre restarts, began to run away with the game, leading at the third term 43-38.
In the final term, the trailing Jets brought on a late fight with young gun Charlie Allen introduced in goal attack, bagging 6/7 goals, but co-captain,Penny put her first half errors behind her and led the Sharks defence with a number of major intercepts to ensure her side would not slip up.
Sharks coach Sue Gerrard said the 14-point victory did not come easy and the team have a lot to work on as they progress through the season.
“I am very happy with the win, I thought we took a while to find our rhythm, but our last quarter certainly showed the class of our players,” she said.
“We’ve absolutely got lots to work on, we need to work on our consistency and making sure we score when we pick a ball up defensively.”
Next Friday, the Sharks take on Southside Demons at the Gold Netball Centre at 6.15pm, whilst the Jets take on second placed West Coast Warriors at the GNC at 8.30pm.
