A SECOND half fade out saw Ararat's A grade team lose to the second placed Warrack Eagles last Saturday at Alexandra Oval by 21 goals.
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With Megan Shea's comeback on track, the Rats started the star shooter on court in a move that paid dividends.
While the Eagles held a six goal break at quarter time, Ararat went goal-for-goal during the second term to remain in the contest by halftime.
"Having Megan on court for the first half was something we have done differently in previous weeks, which I think worked in our favour," Rats' co-coach Olivia West said.
"Having her height in the attacking end straight away made a difference and it was easier for her too because she wasn't playing catch up by coming on at halftime.
"Warrack are obviously a quality side and it was always going to be a big challenge for us to try and match it with them, but I think we did pretty well in that first half."
A 12-goal-to-five third term is were the Eagles began to open a gap on the scoreboard, with the Rats also outscored convincingly in the fourth quarter to eventually go down 45 to 24.
"It felt like a more positive game on previous weeks, but we still threw away a lot of silly balls easy ones we should have got in," West said.
"So we really need to work on keeping possession and valuing it when we have got it."
Co-coach Rebecca Skrabl was named Ararat's best player for her consistent performance in defence across the four quarters, with her rebounds the highlight.
An overseas holiday will see Skrabl miss the next four matches, but West was hopeful Lee-Ann Moana would return to fill the void starting tomorrow in Stawell.
The Rats' B grade line-up had a good chance to make up some ground on the fifth placed Eagles, but ran out of time.
Ararat fell behind late in the first term before each side shot nine goals during the second quarter.
Warrack improved its lead by two heading into the final change, but the Rats were determined to fight to the end.
Through the drive of midcourt players Lucy Mills and Hannah Miller, the Rats outscored their opponents nine to six, but were unable to wrestle back the lead by the final whistle.
The end result was in favour of the Eagles, 41 to 38.
It was an even contest in the opening term of the C grade clash, with the Rats and Eagles locked at seven goals apiece by quarter time.
Caitlin Marrow played strong in wing attack throughout the match, putting into practice her training, while Alex Antonio was a good contributor in goals, taking important intercepts down the midcourt and also shooting well.
Warrack began to pull away after the first break to eventually lead by 10 goals heading into the fourth quarter.
While the Rats improved their output and managed to outscore their opponents, it wasn't enough as the Eagles took honours 30 to 23.
After a slow start to the 17 and under match, Ararat claimed control in the second half to run out winners by 30 goals.
The Rats reduced the number of errors and made a few changes to hold the Eagles to 16 goals for the game.
Stella Frawley stuck like glue to her opponent as well as offering plenty of drive down the court out of defence, while Angie Stoneman dragged down lots of rebounds.
Emily Borrelli rounded out the top performers for feeding the goalies brilliantly, who were then able to convert accurately.
The 15 and under A match saw the Rats start strongly, with the defenders working over time to stop the goalies from getting the ball.
Turnovers in defence gave the team momentum heading into attack, where Lilly Sewell was able to capitalise with 32 goals.
Monique Scott was named best on court for her efforts in defence, along with Sewell who stepped up and played a good solid game as goal shooter.
Ararat worked well all the way down the court allowing it to come away with a 48 to 18 win.
The Rats started a bit scrappy in their 13 and under clash, but once they started to gel their clever passing resulted in some important drives forward.
Coach Kate Bligh said Ararat had been working on defending a lot at training recently and that showed against the Eagles, with the home side building a lead at every quarter to score victory, 48 to 21.
Best on court for the Rats were Olivia Carr and Jesse Bligh.