BALLARAT 39
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BENDIGO 35
BALLARAT Football League's seven-year interleague netball drought was snapped in dramatic fashion on Saturday, as Ballarat came from behind to record a stirring victory over Bendigo.
Heading into the match as arguable favourites after a six-month training regimen that included finishing runners-up in the Regional State League Premier's competition, Ballarat looked to be in serious trouble early in match.
Not that coach Kate McMahon was concerned.
The home side trailed by six goals at the first break and were struggling to move the ball forward into their attacking third.
But a change in tactics and a couple of position changes from McMahon, most notably moving Cass Hobbs into the centre, saw the situation reversed.
It was not long before Ballarat had levelled the scores and in fact led by four goals at half time.
The second half turned out to be a seesawing arm wrestle.
Although scores remained relatively tight, at few stages did Ballarat seem as though it would lose the match, winning 39-35.
Coach Kate McMahon said it was a feeling of pure elation for Ballarat to finally win a netball interleague match, having been on the wrong end of the result for so long.
"The girls were very keen to get a win for the league.
"I'm proud to be a part of something I know is of such high value," McMahon said.
"It's an amazing achievement for the girls to break the hoodoo when they're probably not the superstars of the league with Ballarat Pride clashing."
McMahon said even when her side was down early, she was always confident of securing the result.
"We did create a lot of hype for ourselves which might not have helped looking back," she said.
"It often takes the first quarter to get everything going in games like this where you don't know your opponent.
"I think they caught us a bit off guard but when we figured out what was happening we really started to get on top."
North Ballarat City's Stacey McCartin was awarded the medal for best on court for Ballarat.
In the under-17 netball, Bendigo led at every quarter to beat Ballarat 40-22.
Melton South's Monique Clark was awarded best on court for Ballarat.
patrick.nolan@fairfaxmedia.com.au