Round 11 Match Report – South Coast Blaze vs Sutherland Stingrays

U23s

South Coast Blaze began slowly but by the end of the first quarter they were well ahead 18-10.

Sutherland Stingrays fought back to trail by five goals four minutes into the second quarter, but by half time the lead by Blaze had stretched to seven. At times the ball moved effortlessly through the midcourt with accurate positioning by Centre Clare McCrohon and Wing Attack Abbey Baker. Goal Attack Emily Dunn proved formidable as Goal Attack with a number of goal assists.

A intercept from Wing Defence Sharnee Behr allowed Blaze to steal a Center from Stingrays in the opening minutes of the third quarter and a deflection from Goal Keeper Bilyana Milevski assisted the defence to win back the ball. Good body positioning from Goal Shooter Ky-Mani Schwenke allowed the Blaze feeders to hit the mark. South Coast Blaze established a lead of twelve heading into the fourth quarter.

A spirited intercept from Centre Bronnee Loy in the twelth minute of the fourth quarter, saw Blaze hit 51 goals. All players received court time with Mia Evans Goal Attack and Chloe Burden at Goal Keeper hitting the court. Injury to Bilyana Milevski forced changes in the Defence end during the latter part of the game with Sharnee Behr moving to Goal Keeper and Bronnee Loy moving to Wing Defence. Both Jess Bowden at Goal Defence, and Abbey Baker at Wing Attack had strong games for Blaze. The final score was 57-53.

Opens

In the first quarter some costly errors by Blaze allowed Sutherland Stingrays to run out to a 7 goal lead before Blaze scored their first goal. At the end of the first quarter Stingrays lead 20-7.

Changes in the second half saw Annaleise Chadrawy take the Goal Keeper position, with young gun and Australian 17/Under squad member Sophie Fawns coming on as Goal Attack. Blaze finished the second quarter with a much improved quarter score but still trailed by sixteen goals, the score being 17-33.

In the third quarter, with Kristina Brice in her Goal Shooting position, Abbey McFadden at Wing Attack and Chaise Vasallo in Centre, the team looked a little more settled.

However, fundamental errors allowed Stingrays to increase their lead by 23 at the end of the third quarter.

Heading into the fourth quarter Stingrays were ahead 49-26 and Blaze tried desperately to claw back into the game but failed to make a difference with Stingrays taking the game 71-34.