The Ararat Rats’ A grade team hadn’t tasted victory over two-time Wimmera Netball Association premiers the Horsham Demons since round 11 of the 2012 season, but that all changed last Saturday with an emphatic three goal win which has breathed new life into the competition four rounds out from finals.
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The 34 to 31 result sees the Rats move to equal top of the ladder with the Demons, but coach Rebecca Skrabl said the match gave her team something even more valuable than the four premiership points — belief.
“It is absolutely a big confidence booster, especially now we know we can do it,” she said.
“That is something we will definitely carry with us into finals.”
The match was virtually won in the first quarter, with Ararat completely dominating the unusually flat-footed Horsham to open up a 10-goal lead.
Skrabl said the Rats went into the game determined to get away to a good start and make the Demons play catch-up netball.
“One of the things we needed to focus on was not letting them get that lead early,” she said.
“So the idea was to hit them hard in the first and then keep going with it. Our first quarter was huge, I didn’t realise it was a 10-goal lead until we came off.
“They just made a lot of tiny little mistakes that we capitalised on and I don’t think they were expecting us to come out that way.”
The home side suffered a setback in the second term when Skrabl was forced from the court with a calf strain, which saw the returning Tahnee Walker move into defence with Tiffany Boatman.
Skrabl said the change unsettled Ararat a little, which allowed Horsham to close the gap to six goals by halftime.
“I think there was a little bit of adjustment to that change,” she said.
“Tahnee and Tiff hadn’t trained together, they hadn’t played together there for pretty much most of the season, but they started working really well together as the match went on.
“Tiffany had an absolute boomer of a game. Horsham really out-rebounded us last time we played them in their attacking end, so that was definitely her and my focus going in and Tiff pulled down just about everything.
“That third term we lost a little bit of our drive, but it was still really good to see everyone keep their heads up and really focus on doing their job.”
It was a physical third term, which saw the Demons again peg back the margin to four goals by the final change.
Despite the Horsham charge, Skrabl said she was still confident her team would run the match out and they did exactly that, led by Olivia West.
“They tend to tag Westy and Kate (Bligh) in our attacking end and Westy was just on the ring every time. She really pushed through that and produced nice, sensible play into our goalies,” she said.
“Everyone had a good game, it was a strong performance across the court.”
The injury will see Skrabl miss tomorrow’s match against the third placed Warrack Eagles, which will be another big test for an Ararat outfit that is keen to extend its winning run to eight matches.
“We are definitely not underestimating Warrack, they are the sort of team that you just don’t know how they are going to come at you,” Skrabl said.
“I have full confidence in the girls. Tahnee has been unavailable for most of the season so to have her now ready to slot back in, it is really good timing.”