Rangers vs Western Roar 28 April 2023 Match Report
As ladder leaders Roar had every right to be confident and Rangers would have been considered as underdogs by many as they headed into the Round 7 late evening clash at the Gold Netball Centre. Rangers quickly proved any doubters wrong, however, as they started the match looking far from underdogs. An early intercept from Morgan and a defensive rebound from Grace plus an impressive run in attack, through Kate and Chelsea, and Rangers slotted the first 5 goals of the match. Roar made the most of an out of court call and a defensive intercept in the circle to equalise briefly, but Rangers weren’t prepared to let them back in. A great tip by Chelsea gave Rangers another opportunity and after a tight tussle, Rangers converted. Ellie and Grace worked hard in the circle to keep Roar shooters off balance and Georgia and Kat settled to keep the score ticking over. Georgia went into stealth-mode and a long feed found her standing alone under the post to pull Rangers ahead by 5. The battle continued and the quarter ended with Georgia grabbing her own rebound and settling the score at 13:9.
The second quarter saw an unchanged Rangers continuing to put pressure on Roar who had to work hard for the first goal from their centre pass. Roar pushed through and created more opportunities, and a missed long shot gave Roar a chance to pull back within one, but a Kate intercept and great take by Georgia meant Rangers were able to re-establish a three goal lead. Abbey was brought on at GA and despite a couple of missed opportunities, Rangers worked hard across the court to maintain the three goal margin. Eventually the whole court pressure created a series of breaks for Rangers who extended the lead to 6 24: 17.
The coach backed her players in and the team remained unchanged for the third. Roar started strongly, getting the first break, but a centre pass break gave it back to Rangers and with another intercept by Grace and a spectacular goal by Abbey as she fell out of court, they kept their lead. Roar threw everything at Rangers but they had plenty of answers, with Ellie and Kate grabbing intercepts and Chelsea flying round court delivering to the shooters who rewarded them. With every member of the team playing their role and Georgia impressing with a timely intercept, Rangers stretched the lead to 13 and finished the quarter 40:27.
Still unchanged, while Roar swung players all over the court, Rangers looked determined to run the game out strongly. An unfortunate contact call went against Rangers at the start of the fourth and Roar got a two goal break. A flying intercept by Kate got Rangers back on track and Ellie joined the party with another defensive intercept. Roar didn’t let them have it all their own way, winning it back to continue the battle. Tired players made a few errors but Rangers kept working for each other and Abbey snatched a centre pass from Roar which Georgia converted. Roar had a last spurt and got a couple back, but Rangers stayed strong and finished with a fantastic 10 goal win with the final score of 51:41.
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