How it unfolded
Bond Universityâs Ruby team roared their way to a perfect two-from-two with wins over Barastoc Panthers and USC Thunder.
No such luck for the Bull Sharks Sapphire team. They fell short against the Thunder on Sunday evening after enjoying a bye on Saturday.
Ruby
The Bull Sharks Ruby team was left to rue missed opportunities and silly errors against the Ipswich Jets a week back.
Whatever was said in post-match review certainly had the desired effect.
Bond took control of their first outing of the weekend against the Panthers in the middle part of the opening quarter and despite a few mid-match lapses, they never looked like letting this one slip.
Bond scored a season-high 61 goals in a dominant 23-point victory.
It was a tighter affair on Sunday against a USC Thunder side desperate to jag their first win of the year at home, and for a sizeable chunk of the game it looked like they might do just that until the Bull Sharks found their attacking mojo in the third quarter.
Bond turned a three-goal deficit into a seven-goal three-quarter time lead and kept the foot on the gas to register a significant 12-goal win.
Bond Head of Netball Operations and Ruby coach, Kim Boland, was proud of the way her team responded to the different challenges thrown up in each match.
âWe started strongly against the Panthers but made a few errors in quarters two and three that our opposition pounced upon,â she said. âBut I really liked the way our girls adapted, and we came out firing in the final quarter to put it all together.â
Captain Molly Parry was a standout performer at WD.
âShe had to clamp down on a very dominant Panthers WA and I thought she did brilliantly,â Boland said.
Boland described the Thunder game on Sunday as hard fought.
âWe were on the back foot early with the Thunder jumping out to a 5-1 lead. At half-time we talked about how weâd drifted away from our game plan and that we had to create more defensive pressure. We executed beautifully thereafter. Our defence turned over ball after ball.â
Boland said key defenders Tehya Hyssett and Harriet Nicholson were again outstanding. She also liked the way midcourters Joesi Gisinger and Lily Phillips connected through the middle.
Bondâs Ruby side now sits in fifth place on the ladder with only a small percentage difference separating them from cross-town rival Gold Coast Titans.
Sapphire
It was again a case of âalmost, but not quiteâ for Bondâs Sapphire team.
Out to make amends for what Head Coach Bec Stower described as a schooling by the ladder-leading Ipswich Jets a week earlier, the Bull Sharks started well against the Thunder.
Down by just two at the main change, Bond was doing plenty right and a season-first win was on the cards. But a less than ideal third term saw the Thunder score goals in clusters and they slowly pulled away to an insurmountable lead.
In the end the Thunder prevailed 57-50.
Coach Stower said she knows exactly where things went wrong.
âWe put together more consistent passages of play this week,â she said. âBut we can pinpoint three specific lapses throughout the game where we let the Thunder have uncontested momentum. We can address this.â
Stower was otherwise happy with much of what transpired.
âWe had some standout performances. Ella Spencer was again terrific in defence. Kaylin van Greunenâs shooting was a highlight and Monique Piunti was excellent through the middle.â
She lamented the absence of midcourter Dakota Newson who succumbed to injury in the second quarter.
âUnfortunately, the injury sidelined her for the rest of the match. Up until that point she was having a great game with high numbers of goal assists and feeds.â
Next week
Bull Sharks Ruby and Sapphire teams will play at 4.00pm and 6.00pm respectively at Nissan Arena against the Brisbane South Wildcats.
A solid win could see the Bull Sharks Ruby side move into the top four.
Bondâs Sapphire team will need to overcome an improving Wildcats outfit if they are to register their first competition points.