The Ararat Rats survived a minor scare against Dimboola last weekend to remain equal top in the Wimmera Netball Association A grade competition.
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The Roos got the jump on the Rats in the opening quarter at Alexandra Oval to lead by three goals, but the home side remained focused and slowly worked the deficit into a two goal advantage by halftime.
With coach Rebecca Skrabl unavailable, the Wimmera's leading shooter Megan Shea stepped in to lead Ararat.
Shea put the slow start down to illness, which has swept through the team in recent weeks.
"A lot of us are still recovering from being sick and that has led to the foot being taken off the pedal with training too," she said.
"They caught us by surprise, but it was good for us because we haven't been in that situation for a while where we have had to peg back a lead from the start.
"It was learning curve. We had done that to Horsham two weeks before and we knew how it felt and we just needed to reassure each other not to panic and we slowly got our way back up in the second quarter."
The Rats were back to their best by the third quarter, dominating the opposition with 17 goals to seven.
Shea said Tiffany Boatman stood up to the occasion, particularly in the absence of Skrabl, and combined well in defence with Tahnee Walker.
"Tiffany and Tahnee changed some things in the defensive circle and it caused a few miss shots, which was important because Dimboola's goalies had got their eye in during the first quarter and were pretty pumped," she said.
"They changed their hang over the ball and the type of pressure that they applied which caused those miss shots and Tiff was there to pull the ball in and send it back down the court."
Ararat finished the match off strongly, outscoring the Roos by five goals on its way to the 54 to 37 victory.
Shea said it was good to play a quality finals contender so close to the business end of the season.
"Dimboola are a much improved side and they are strong in every position, there are no weaknesses, so it is really good to see the improvements they've made," she said.
"It was good that happened to us because we really need to put the hard yards back into training and get the junior players ready for the pressure that comes with A grade finals."
Skrabl will return to the court tomorrow to face the bottom placed Nhill, however Shea will miss due to unavailability.
Ararat's chances of playing in the B grade finals took a hit on Saturday with the Rats falling short to the Roos by four goals.
The side should defeat the bottom placed Nhill tomorrow, but would then have to cause an upset over Stawell in the final round of the season as well as relying on other results to fall its way.
With plenty to play for the Rats came out firing against Dimboola and trailed by just three goals at the first change.
The Roos forged ahead in the second term to open up a six goal buffer, but with Claire Harricks and Grace Molloy solid in defence Ararat was able peg the margin back to three by three quarter time.
Both teams went goal-for-goal in the final term and the Rats were unable to claw their way back in front, going down 47 to 51.
With no Dimboola 17 and under team, the fifth placed Rats enjoyed a week off ahead of tomorrow's all important clash against the Tigers, who sit in sixth position.
It was a thrilling contest in the 15 and under A match which resulted in a 27-all draw.
Dimboola started the game well, dominating the first half of the opening quarter, but the Rats were able to regroup and take back the lead by quarter time.
Sickness forced Ararat to mix up its positions, with Angie Stoneman moving from defence into goals.
The versatile player held her own in the goal ring and gave a good four quarter effort to be named the top performer.
The final quarter of the game became a physical tussle, but the Rats were able to hold their nerve to share in the points and remain in third place on the ladder.
No 15 and under B team for Dimboola also meant the top of the table Rats sat out round 14.
Ararat remains inside the top five in the 13 and under competition following an emphatic 20 to seven victory.
The Rats are starting to play smart netball and have been putting into their game set plays that have been worked on at training.
Racquel Scott was giving her opponent grief offensively, while defensively she took plenty of intercepts through the centre and provided plenty of drive into the goal circle.
Sharna Wilson was another player who really stepped up and deflected numerous balls as well as being an attacking option.
Overall the match was an all-round team effort with no Ararat player being beaten by their opponent.