Their finals hopes might be all but gone but Terang Mortlake's open-grade netballers have plenty to play for and won't go down without a fight.
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The Bloods produced a hard-fought 42-39 away-win against Port Fairy in round 14 of the Hampden league on Saturday, July 27 and sit three wins outside the top-five with four rounds remaining.
Whatever happens, the side won't be short of motivation in its final games, according to coach Kym Grundy.
"I'm not really sure if we're still in the race for finals but we've just set ourselves the challenge just to do the best we can, try and shake as many trees (as we can) in the last part of the season, you just never know what you can do to the ladder," she told The Standard.
"It'll be nice to finish off strong."
The Bloods survived a scare against the Seagulls, who trailed by no more than three goals at any of the breaks
"It was a hard-fought win," Grundy said.
"They've improved out of sight since we played them the first time. And I spoke with Lisa (Seagulls coach Lisa Arundell) before the game and we both thought it would be a good, tight tussle and it was.
"But we're happy to get those four points."
Grundy said her side's defensive pressure down the court was a strength, as well as its attacking, feeding and shooting.
She praised the work of Eboni Knights, Ava Grundy and Jacqui Arundell in attack.
"They probably did set us up with real poise in the attacking end," she said.
"They steadied it and another player down the court too (who played well) was Lara (Clarke) in the centre. Her defensive pressure in with the defenders down there was really good and got some valuable turnovers."
Talented junior Holly Jones also impressed in her open debut, spending around a quarter-and-a-half on the court.
Arundell, although disappointed not to get the win, was "really happy" with what she witnessed from her side.
"They kept fighting the whole match, they kept themselves in the game and unfortunately it just didn't go our way," she said.
"I think for the first half of the year I was saying to the girls I just wanted us to go out there and be competitive. The second half of the year we're really concentrating on the growth factor and consistency.
"Last week against Cobden to be up by 10 at halftime and then lose by five, we need that consistency, we need four quarters. And today was four quarters which is what I had asked them to focus on heading into this game."
Ellie Cuolahan was a standout for the Seagulls while league-leading goal-scorer Jessika Tobin Salzman was impressive with 30 goals.
Meanwhile, second-placed Cobden proved too strong at home for Camperdown, prevailing 64-40.
Twin sisters Lara and Grace Taylor were standouts for the victors while Chloe Davis was Camperdown's best player.
In the remaining fixtures, Koroit defeated Portland 63-43 and North Warrnambool Eagles downed Hamilton Kangaroos 46-26.
Matt Hughes
Matt is a sports journalist at The Standard.
Matt is a sports journalist at The Standard.
