Ararat had the Pumas on the back foot in the first quarter, as they gave themselves better opportunities to score.

The Eagles led 10 goals to six at the break and both teams made changes for the second quarter.

The Pumas finally settled into the game and started to flow better down the court.

Kira Stapleton moved into the goals and provided her team with a strong option in the ring.

She was awarded Moyston-Willaura’s best player.

The latter half of the match had Stapleton collecting her possessions further down the court and passing into fellow goalie Chloe Dunmore who was eventually able to finish off for the Pumas.

Genesis Rameka had the Pumas’ goalies working for possession the entire match.

Rameka is a strong, tight defender that plays a steadying game for Ararat.

Rommy Nicht moved into goal defence for the Pumas and made a significant difference.

She was able to apply pressure in the ring and forced errors from Ararat’s attack, which the Pumas were able to capitalise on. Moyston-Willaura went into the final break with a 24-28 goal lead.

The last quarter was competitive and the highest scoring for the match.

Abby Driscoll was solid in the midcourt for Ararat.

She played in front of her player and had strong hands in the contests.

Unfortunately, Ararat were not able to continue with the intensity they showed in the first quarter and the Pumas went on to win.

Moyston-Willaura coach Jacqui Eastick said the Eagles surprised the Pumas early in the game.

“It was a tough, tough match,” she said.

“It took us half a game to get back into the game we play, rather than get sucked into how they play.

“I am glad to get away with the win but there are some things we will need to work on at training.”

Eagles coach Alana Jenkins said she was impressed with the team’s efforts in the round two match.

“We were ahead in the first quarter and we just wanted to keep our heads, but the game got lost when it got close,” she said.

“It did not bother too much we lost, it was the fact we came that close to a good team that will give us confidence going into other matches during the season.”

Jenkins said it was a simple game plan.

“If we lost the ball, we put pressure on them and our defenders made sure they were there for the loose ball.”