Sharks take Radars offline

SHARKS have kept their perch on top of the Cairns Netball Association A grade ladder with 60-51 win over Radars at Martyn St Reserve on Wednesday night.

With Louise Verdec deadlier than a trigger-happy sniper in the shooting circle and defender Lauren Hellmuth killing off scoring opportunities at the other end, Sharks raced to a 33-20 lead at halftime.

Radars came back in the third quarter and reduced the deficit to nine goals after coach Heather McLaren made some changes.

But the deficit proved too much to overcome for Radars, who could only match Sharks goal-for-goal in the last quarter. While satisfied with the win, Sharks player-coach Cherie Horan would have been happier if her side had finished the game more strongly.

"We had a really good first half. I was very happy with the team and how they played," she said.

"We had some excellent transitions of play.

"But I wasn’t so happy with our second half. We kind of slipped into autopilot and I would have rather for us
to have built on our advantage."

With Radars slumping to their second loss in as many matches, McLaren said work needed to be done on the training court.

"Sharks just outplayed us," she said.

"They were hungrier, more passionate. I think our girls were a little shell-shocked.

"I was happy with how we played in the second half but it’s too hard to play catch-up in any sport."

In other games on Wednesday night, a strong opening half saw Leprechauns 2 beat Cougars 47-23, and Wildcatz led from the first quarter to defeat Aces 37-24.

-- Source Article