![Dennington centre Emily Manuell was outstanding for the Dogs. Picture by Anthony Brady Dennington centre Emily Manuell was outstanding for the Dogs. Picture by Anthony Brady](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/157463791/b796daa1-b7fa-4e1d-9eb0-57b482050acd.jpg/r0_0_5662_3775_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Dennington A grade mentor Sue Fleming says her inspired group proved it has taken significant steps in 2023 after arguably its most important and impressive victory of the season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Despite the bitterly disappointing injury to star shooter Lena Wright, who hurt her knee seriously in the third quarter in what is likely to be a season-ending injury, the Dogs dug deep to remain in the hunt for finals with a gritty 39-37 win on the road against Panmure.
"We just went in to the game with a really positive mindset and we believed and good on them," Fleming said. "We talked a lot about discipline today, we can sometimes drift off mentally against good teams.
"I reminded them of how strong a knit group they are and they all just played for each other."
Fleming said after the loss of Wright, the Dogs wanted to finish strongly.
"That probably inspired them a bit in a way, we lifted a gear when she went off," she said.
The Dogs mentor said it was an excellent team effort but pointed to the efforts of midcourter Emily Manuell in setting the tone.
"Emily played her best game of the season by far, I told her at the end of the game she was the glue that held us together," she said.
"Then after that you couldn't pick the best player, it was a really terrific team effort."
An under strength Kolora-Noorat, meanwhile, proved its got the depth in its ranks with a tricky 47-43 win against Timboon Demons.
With first-choice players Sarah Clissold and Hannah O'Connor injured and Molly and Lillie Bourke both overseas, the Power had to endure a fired-up Demons outfit but prevailed.
"It was a very close game and to get away with it is great," Power coach Laura Bourke said.
"We were down for the majority of it but the girls managed to come away with the four points so I'm really happy.
"To have four of the starting seven out is unfortunate but our A reserves really stood up.
"They ended up winning it for us, they were so steady and composed.
"It can be really tough to be asked to come up and play (A grade) but they did it so well.
"They came out and played so well for us."
Bourke said the win proved depth at the club was strong ahead of finals.
"It's great to know the girls can be called upon whenever we need them, but also knowing we can fight back from being behind and win," she said.
In remaining matches Nirranda bounced back in empathetic style from its shock round 13 loss with a 70-24 victory against South Rovers, Old Collegians dug in to win 50-39 against Russells Creek and Merrivale did what it needed with a 76-30 victory against Allansford.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark https://www.standard.net.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines and newsletters
- Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn
- Tap here to open our Google News page
- Join our Courts and Crime Facebook group and our dedicated Sport Facebook group
- Subscribe
Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.