By DAVID NAGEL
NARRE Warren showed it is the team to beat for this year’s South East Netball League crown after a clinical 55-24 victory over Hampton Park at Fox Road.
The win saw the Magpies leapfrog the Redbacks at the top-of-the-table, with six wins and a draw from seven impressive rounds of netball.
And they seem to be getting better too, after a draw against Cranbourne in round one, then a hard-fought victory over Pakenham in round two; the Magpies have taken all before them, with double-figure margins a constant in their last five wins.
Magpies’ coach Greg Heinrich, who shares the role with his wife Jade, was delighted with his team’s performance after a slow first half.
“We were disappointed with our first half, but we executed much better in the second half and played to the structures that we wanted to run,” he said.
Hampton Park did match the Magpies in the early exchanges, with Sara Drain, Jemma Franken and Chloe Birch performing admirably through the mid-court, but the Magpies soon took control.
They led by four at the first break, eight at half-time, before producing a brilliant 34 to 11 second half.
Jade Heinrich had a great duel with Drain in the middle, Tracey Dell and Kara Hargraves were miserly at the defensive end, while Erin Clark showed her Player of the Year winning qualities at wing defence.
Berwick will be breathing a very-deep sigh of relief after coming from behind to defeat Doveton 50-45 at Edwin Flack Reserve.
The Wickers sensed the danger and lifted after the main break, goalers Emily Wilson and Amanda Goodie combining well in the third term before Lynne Moyes joined Wilson to finish off the job in the final quarter.
The Wickers turned a three-goal deficit at half time into a two-goal lead at the final break, before a 14 to 11 final quarter sealed the deal.
Cranbourne’s luck has finally taken a turn for the better, the Eagles winning the first of five close ones this year, with a 43-41 victory over ROC.
The Eagles must have been having nightmares, as scores tightened as the final whistle approached, but the class of Tara Cecil and Alanah Hardy proved enough to keep their finals’ hopes alive.
Pakenham simply did what it had to do in its 60-35 victory over Tooradin at the Tooradin Recreation Reserve.
Led brilliantly by Taylor Beck, who read the play well and had plenty of intercepts, and Toni Dart, who was typically efficient in front of goals, the Lions took an early lead that it never relinquished.
