HARD work has led Royal Hawks to the perfect start to the 2015 Toyota Cup with two wins from as many starts after the two blues ran out 43-33 victors over High A on Saturday.
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After a strong, 37-30 round one triumph over new Orange Netball Association outfit The Vipers, Royal Hawks again found themselves tested throughout Saturday’s 10-goal victory over the Orange High School girls but ground out the win to prove the two blues will push the top teams in this year’s premiership.
Coach Amanda Hurford was thrilled, adding Hawks were putting in the hard yards this season to ensure they live up to the hype.
“It’s a whole different competition this year,” Hurford said.
“We’d love to be up there one and two positions at the end of the season but we have to work hard to get there.
“(Beating The Vipers) was a big confidence boost for a lot of our girls which was nice. (High A) gave it to us as well, we’ve had two tough games but two really good wins.”
Down early after High A shooters Katie Eslick and Maddison Hales fired for the students, Hawks fought back to lead 15-11 at the first break.
High A didn’t go away, though, and pegged two goals back on the two blues to trail 24-22 at halftime.
The third quarter was the most enthralling.
As much as Hawks proved they’ll be a force to be reckoned with in 2015, High A showed enough in the third period to suggest they’ll feature prominently in the top four this winter too, and should have twice drawn level with their opposition on Saturday before paying the price for wayward shooting.
From threatening at 27-26, High A fell to eventually face a 33-28 deficit at three-quarter time, a margin that blew out somewhat in the final quarter as Hawks chalked up a second consecutive victory.
Obviously pleased with the points, Hurford said if her side was to seriously contend this year then they’ll need to rectify what was a lacklustre third term in the face of some stern defence from the students.
“Our third quarter actually shocked me a bit,” she said,
“We didn’t stand up like I thought we would with the combinations we had on. But we were able to dig deep in that fourth quarter and come away with the win, which was good to see.”
Laura Kable was brilliant in the circle for Hawks, while Gemma Kelly was on song in the centre court.
Kellie Watson and Mel Waters were also strong in defence, proving tough opposition for Eslick and co in the students attacking third.
“They played a fantastic game in the circle to shut down those shooters,” Hurford said of her defence.
“We definitely have some talented players across the court there, it’s just creating those combinations together and working hard for the rest of the season.”