A storming second quarter and strong finish against the Southern Blast have kept Mainland’s faint hopes of a Grand Final berth alive in netball’s Synergy Hair Netball League.
Mainland beat Blast 47-39 at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin on Sunday in what was their third win on the trot and with two games remaining in their campaign, have kept their season alive.
They will need to gain maximum points in the rest of their matches, and for other results to go their way, but captain Kate Littlejohn has been pleased with Mainland’s improvement every round.
“It’s been a development each week, so we’re really pleased to have kept building and get the four points,” she said after their game against the Blast.
She said they had focussed on their third quarter during training this week and didn’t let their standards slip against the Blast, having finished the half strongly.
“We’ve really struggled in that third quarter, so we knew we had to look after possession and play nice short netball in that quarter.
“We had a lot of errors early on in the game, so once we reduced those and started playing that short and sharp game, we were able to maintain possession.”
Littlejohn, who finished with five gains for her side, and the defensive unit applied the pressure early on for Mainland, but the side struggled to finish as the Blast took the first advantage.
Both teams showed early nerves, needing to reset ball a number of times on attack in what was a low-scoring first spell.
Mainland wing attack Emma Thompson was forced to the side-line midway through the spell with what looked like a dislocated finger with experienced midcourter Lily Fletcher coming on at centre and Ashleigh Poi moving to wing attack.
Blast was the first side to settle, looking over the midcourt mess with the long clearing play on attack as they opened up a four-goal lead with five minutes to play.
Centre Cecile Velghe was a key link for the hosts through the middle, but the Blast struggled to finish a number of opportunities in the first quarter, going to the break with a slender 10-7 lead.
Blast made just the one change to their line after the break with Grace Southby replacing Jess Allan at goal attack.
Mainland also made personnel changes to their side, one at either end of the court with Tactix players Vika Koloto and Kate Lloyd injected in at goal shooter and goal keeper respectively.
It worked well for the visitors as they levelled the scores early in the spell, but neither side could grab the game by the scruff as errors continued to impact their efforts.
The inclusion of Koloto up front was telling for Mainland with the shooter showing great timing to pop forward for ball and netting 12 goals in the quarter, helping her attacking end to lift as they went into the halftime break with a 23-19 lead.
It was a new-look front line for the Blast on the resumption of play with Isabella Galvan coming on at centre, Jess Allan returning to goal attack and Ella MacKenzie at shooter.
They came on with plenty of purpose and closed the gap to just one goal early in the third quarter.
From there it went goal for goal as both sides made numerous positional changes to give exposure to as many of their squad as possible. Mainland’s Thompson returned to the court having had her injured finger strapped.
Mainland turned into the final spell with a 34-30 but again made many changes to their line for the deciding quarter with Te Ata Hassan returning to the shooting circle in place of the influential Koloto.
Their zone defence worked well but the Blast showed plenty of patience and through the finishing efforts of Allan, they were again able to cut the difference between the two teams.
Mainland’s strong rebounding presence came into play as the intensity lifted however as the side benefitted from Blast’s wayward radar in the fourth quarter.
Mainland beat Blast 47-39 at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin on Sunday in what was their third win on the trot and with two games remaining in their campaign, have kept their season alive.
They will need to gain maximum points in the rest of their matches, and for other results to go their way, but captain Kate Littlejohn has been pleased with Mainland’s improvement every round.
“It’s been a development each week, so we’re really pleased to have kept building and get the four points,” she said after their game against the Blast.
She said they had focussed on their third quarter during training this week and didn’t let their standards slip against the Blast, having finished the half strongly.
“We’ve really struggled in that third quarter, so we knew we had to look after possession and play nice short netball in that quarter.
“We had a lot of errors early on in the game, so once we reduced those and started playing that short and sharp game, we were able to maintain possession.”
Littlejohn, who finished with five gains for her side, and the defensive unit applied the pressure early on for Mainland, but the side struggled to finish as the Blast took the first advantage.
Both teams showed early nerves, needing to reset ball a number of times on attack in what was a low-scoring first spell.
Mainland wing attack Emma Thompson was forced to the side-line midway through the spell with what looked like a dislocated finger with experienced midcourter Lily Fletcher coming on at centre and Ashleigh Poi moving to wing attack.
Blast was the first side to settle, looking over the midcourt mess with the long clearing play on attack as they opened up a four-goal lead with five minutes to play.
Centre Cecile Velghe was a key link for the hosts through the middle, but the Blast struggled to finish a number of opportunities in the first quarter, going to the break with a slender 10-7 lead.
Blast made just the one change to their line after the break with Grace Southby replacing Jess Allan at goal attack.
Mainland also made personnel changes to their side, one at either end of the court with Tactix players Vika Koloto and Kate Lloyd injected in at goal shooter and goal keeper respectively.
It worked well for the visitors as they levelled the scores early in the spell, but neither side could grab the game by the scruff as errors continued to impact their efforts.
The inclusion of Koloto up front was telling for Mainland with the shooter showing great timing to pop forward for ball and netting 12 goals in the quarter, helping her attacking end to lift as they went into the halftime break with a 23-19 lead.
It was a new-look front line for the Blast on the resumption of play with Isabella Galvan coming on at centre, Jess Allan returning to goal attack and Ella MacKenzie at shooter.
They came on with plenty of purpose and closed the gap to just one goal early in the third quarter.
From there it went goal for goal as both sides made numerous positional changes to give exposure to as many of their squad as possible. Mainland’s Thompson returned to the court having had her injured finger strapped.
Mainland turned into the final spell with a 34-30 but again made many changes to their line for the deciding quarter with Te Ata Hassan returning to the shooting circle in place of the influential Koloto.
Their zone defence worked well but the Blast showed plenty of patience and through the finishing efforts of Allan, they were again able to cut the difference between the two teams.
Mainland’s strong rebounding presence came into play as the intensity lifted however as the side benefitted from Blast’s wayward radar in the fourth quarter.