Netball
2 May, 2025
Ladder leaders to face off
It's a clash of the ladder leaders between Horsham Saints and Dimboola this Saturday, headlining Round Three of the Wimmera Football Netball League A Grade netball.
Both teams have banked a couple of wins this season and are yet to experience defeat, but coming head to head, that streak will end for one side this Saturday.
Dimboola is fresh off a win over Ararat last week, 60 to 44, with Bridget Dorrington and Paige Glover leading the way for their side.
The Saints defeated Horsham Demons 60 to 40, with Holly Phillips and Jorja Clode best on court for the victors.
If Dimboola is to get the win on Saturday, they are going to have to limit the influence of the Saint's goal shooter in Clode has.
Clode has shot 79 goals from 99 attempts this season and leads the league in goal scoring.
Dimboola's goals come from a couple of options, who equally share the work, with Olivia Beugelaar shooting 56 goals from 75 attempts this season and Nicole Polycarpou 53 goals from 70 attempts.
Going off last week Holly Phillips (who played goal defence) and Erin Martin (goal keeper) will get the job on the Dimboola shooters for the Saints this week, while Dimboola could share their defence task between Bridget Dorrington, Indy Ward and Stephanie Glover.
Coach of the Saints, Vernetta Taylor, said she is expecting the clash to be entertaining.
"We are expecting a challenge that is tough from Dimboola," Taylor said.
"They have started the season strongly with two good wins, and they were impressive against Ararat on Saturday.
"We absolutely know we are up for a challenge."
The Saint's start to the year is nothing to be sneezed at, and Taylor admits her side is playing well.
"We have started the season well, the team is playing as a really tight unit, and we are focused on sticking to our game plan, which is working for us," she said.
"We will bring that attitude to the game against Dimboola, but I have watched the replays of Dimboola's first couple of games, and I have been impressed by their defensive unit in particular.
"I think they are going to give us a challenge and they have some goalers who are tall as well, so every match is different and we have to look at the line-ups, we have to look at our players and how best to combat the side we are coming up against."
Taylor said the defenders for Dimboola are different from what they experienced against the Demons, as they are agile and dynamic.
"They like to have a go at the high ball," Taylor said.
"So we are going to have to be careful with ball placement, but Jorja is a phenomenal shooter, she is consistent and difficult to defend, so I think it'll be an interesting match up, but I feel like Jorja might give them a few headaches."
The coach of the Saints said the game could be lost or won in the midcourt, with both sides having talent there.
"They have some fantastic midcourt players, as do we, with Hatcher medallist Ash Grace leading the way, so I think that midcourt battle is going to be extremely important," she concluded.
There are a couple of other games to complete this round of the WFNL, with Minyip Murtoa facing Warrack and the Horsham Saints travelling to Coughlin Park to come up against Nhill.
The current ladder for A Grade netball is: Horsham Saints, Dimboola, Thunder, Ararat, Horsham Demons, Stawell, Warrack, Minyip Murtoa, and Nhill, while leading the goal scoring is Clode, of Horsham Saints, with 79 goals, followed by Maggie Astbury, from Ararat, and Avya Mitchell from Stawell, both with 77 goals.
