The Stawell Warriors A Grade netball side battled admirably against league powerhouse Minyip-Murtoa on Saturday afternoon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Warriors showed some impressive signs in the 71-33 defeat, with co-coach Tracey Dark applauding the effort shown.
"I was really pleased with the girls, they never gave up and they worked really hard," Dark said.
"We don't have a very tall team - and they seemed to be just an inch short of intercepts every time.
"But they fought really hard, and you can't ask for them to do more than that."
The match started on even terms, with the margin just six at quarter time, 18-12.
But ultimately, the Burras fast and direct ball movement toward star goal shooter Kirby Knight proved to be too much to handle.
Knight finished with a whopping 61 goals in the contest.
"Kirby is obviously a great player, she's tall, mobile and very hard to play on," Dark said.
Trailing by 33 at three quarter time, Dark decided to shake things up for the last term, moving players into unfamiliar positions.
Ebony Summers switched from goal shooter to goal keeper, while Rachel Wood moved to goal shooter.
Wood scored four goals in a promising showing, and Summers battled manfully against Kirby Knight. The Warriors were able to remain competitive in the final term, getting outscored 13-8.
"Sometimes you've got to change it up, try something a bit different," Dark said.
"They adapted well and ... it wasn't like we got wiped off the court, we were in the contest the whole time.
"Rachel did a fantastic job on Kirby, and Ebony as well when she went down there ... I was really proud of them."