DESPITE being down a handful of their attacking circle players, Royal Hawks downed a plucky KWS 1sts side by three on Wednesday night.
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The two sides moved their Orange Netball Association Toyota Cup game to Wednesday night because of availability issues, which Hawks centre Ash Bruton said ended up being detrimental to her side.
"It did come back to bite us a little bit," she laughed.
"We ended up playing without three or four of our normal starters so it was a really massive effort from all the girls.
"Gabrielle Simmons came up from division two for the night and did an amazing job and Kellie Watson, she's normally a defender, moved into the attacking circle for three quarters of the game and did an incredible job.
"I know Rousey (Hawks player-coach Amanda Hurford) was really pleased we managed to win, all the girls were, it was a big effort from everyone in the side."
The two sides were on level pegging at quarter-time before Hawks hit the lead in the second period and never relinquished it.
"Rousey was really pleased we managed to hold on to the lead," Bruton said.
Hawks had been tracking along nicely prior to the game and Wednesday night's clash loomed as a crucial fixture if the two blues were to stay in touch with Robin Hood and Vipers at the top of the table.
Hawks had only dropped two games going into the clash – to Robin Hood and Vipers – but could have slipped to be five points adrift of the top two with a loss on Wednesday.
In fact, worst case, the two blues could have dropped as low as fourth.
KWS, on the other hand, could have lifted themselves within a win of a top four place if they trumped Hawks.
So, with that in mind, Hawks' focus was simple – win.
Easier said than done, Bruton said, considering KWS has been the surprise packet of 2016, seriously pushing several of the top sides, most notably in their draw with last year's runners-up Life Studio.
"They have been producing some really good netball and they did that again against us," Bruton said.
"They're a good young side so we're pretty pleased we managed to hold on to win.
"As far as we know it keeps us in third depending on how the games this weekend go."
In Saturday's games OHS High A play Life Studio (1.10pm), Robin Hood Craig Harvey Mechanical take on the Vipers (3.50pm) and Robin Hood play Life Studio Mid West Eyes (2.30pm)
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
