Sunbury remains on top of the Ballarat Football Netball League ladder as the only undefeated team in the competition, but coach Adam Boldiston has described the team’s six-point victory over North Ballarat City on Saturday as a tough encounter.
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The Lions had a sluggish start and basic errors in the first and second quarters were costly.
“We were probably taken a little bit by surprise to start off with, and each time we started to get a bit of momentum we would just do a silly basic error and give the ball back to North Ballarat,” Boldiston said.
“But in the second half things fell into place and we were able to really work together and solidify the combinations, and it showed in the last quarter when we turned a two goal deficit into a six goal win.”
Boldiston said third-placed North Ballarat had a “never-say-die” attitude and was a short and fast side.
“We knew that we really had to pressure them and try to slow their transition play,” he said.
“They tend to always have a reliable goal shooter, so I had to rotate combinations through the defensive end to try and shut things down and create turnovers.”
Goal shooter Chloe Curran contributed 37 goals from 44 attempts for a shooting efficiency of 85 per cent.
But Boldiston said Ruth Smith stood up in goal attack to relieve some of the pressure from Curran and had her best game of the season as a result, shooting 21 goals from 25 attempts.
Lauren Gilchrist also stood out in a wing defence role after quarter time.
“Her job was just to go out there and really work hard on shutting the wing attack and center down and I thought she did a fantastic job at that,” Boldiston said.
“She really slowed them down and provided great impact.”
Sunbury, which has nine wins and one draw midway through the season, will have a well-earned rest next week with the bye before facing seventh-placed Melton South.
Boldiston said it had been a “really pleasing” start to the season, but noted Sunbury had dropped off in intensity in the past few matches.
He said the team had gained a lot of confidence from the comeback win over City.