COLLEGIANS Shockwave kept their slim semi-finals chances alive in the Bathurst Netball Association A grade competition with a 43-18 win over Nova Fusion on Saturday.
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In doing so, they kept Fusion’s winless run going for another week, though there were some signs of improvement from Nova, who were without their mentor Kathy Keech on game day.
The result moves Shockwave to within four points of City Colts in the last semi-final spot with three regular season games to play.
“It was close enough for a lot of the game and it felt like we fought pretty hard again but we made plenty of silly mistakes,” Fusion player Emma Miller said.
“The positives were that we forced a lot of turnovers, but then we’d give them away quite quickly with a silly pass or a wrong option and undo the good work, that was the basic problem throughout the game.
“Some of our combinations were very good, in the circle especially our shooters did a good job.”
The disappointing aspect of the loss for Nova was the fact that it represented a realistic opportunity for them to break their duck in 2015.
They defeated Shockwave twice last year and were competitive in their first contest this season, going down 44-22.
“We won those two matches last year so going into this one we were hopeful we could get it done, but they are a pretty talented side and they are getting better each week,” Miller said.
“They are quite tall right across the court and they move well, so they are a difficult team for us to match up on and they showed it.
“We have had a tough time of it in the last few weeks, we had a double-header the previous weekend against Bulldogs and Panthers, who are two of the best teams in the competition.
“Across those games and Saturday’s game, we’ve had a couple of good quarters here and there and some good moments but overall we’ve obviously lost a lot more than we’ve won.”
Miller says that it is difficult keeping a positive frame of mind given the results of late, but they intend to finish the season on a good note and they still have at least one good chance for a win when they face LJ Hooker Heat in a few weeks.
“It isn’t fantastic to be in the situation we’re in, but we’re trying to change our attitude to just focus on the fun aspect of the game and work on a few things before the season is out,” she explained.
In Saturday’s other matches Panthers defeated the Heat 61-31 while Bulldogs Verdelho continue to motor towards the semis with a 40-29 win over City Colts.
