Sport
6 May, 2024
Big win for Magpie netballers
Maryborough have cemented themselves as an A reserve premiership threat, and set a marker for the improvement of a young core of netballers going forward with a six-goal victory over a powerful Sandhurst outfit. The reigning premiers were jumped by...

Maryborough have cemented themselves as an A reserve premiership threat, and set a marker for the improvement of a young core of netballers going forward with a six-goal victory over a powerful Sandhurst outfit.
The reigning premiers were jumped by an enthusiastic Magpies outfit who ran the Dragons into the ground across the first three quarters, before easing to a six-goal victory in a performance which will turn heads across the A reserve competition, as the Magpies continue to accelerate their rebuild.
A strong start to the game saw the Magpies score 11 goals to six in the first term, and dictated a large amount of the play. It could have been more, but the Magpies missed nine opportunities. Still, it was a handy five-goal lead to start with, with Megan Kelly scoring seven goals and Jordan MacIlwain four.
Both teams got going from an offensive standpoint in the second quarter, with the Magpies continuing to answer every Sandhurst challenge, scoring 14 goals to 13 to increase the lead to six goals at the main break, 25-19. Kelly added 11 goals, while MacIlwain scored three.
The third quarter was Maryborough at their offensive best as they were able to dictate terms and continue to throw caution to the wind, playing with a level of confidence that hasn’t been seen for some time. They scored 17 goals to 12 in the third term to extend the lead to a game high 11 goals, leading 42-31 at the last change. Kelly scored nine goals, while MacIlwain added eight.
Sandhurst did what they could to come back, and certainly asked some questions of Maryborough defenders Ella Patten and Maggie Tranter, but they did enough to ensure that Sandhurst wouldn’t score more than 12 goals, while the Magpies added seven more to cement one of their most satisfying wins in some time. Kelly scored two goals to finish with 28 for the day, while MacIlwain’s five brought her to 21.
While the Magpies have dropped themselves to A reserve for the season, results like this will prove encouraging for the togetherness of the team going forward, particularly given Sandhurst’s status as a powerhouse in the A grade competition, with a number of hungry players looking to move up in the team.
It also completes a significant month for the group, who have negotiated four A reserve finalists from last season with two wins, a draw and a loss.
Elsewhere, it was a tough day for the rest of the Magpies cohort, who continued to give their all, with the Sandhurst B grade team winning 73-25, B reserve going down 87-13 and 17 and under handed their first loss of the season, going down 73-25.
The Magpies will now have the bye this week, before they travel to South Bendigo for their next assignment.