BALLARAT Pride’s 19/unders are back in business.
UB Pride bounced back into form and ended their run of two straight defeats with a gutsy three-goal win over Victorian Netball League rivals Geelong Cougars last night.
In front of their home crowd at The Arena, the Cougars proved difficult to shake, with the Ballarat girls using a third-quarter surge to swing the contest in their favour.
Trailing narrowly at half -time, Pride goalers Brylee Schache and Laura McDonald became flawless under the ring, with the pair netting all 16 attempts of the term to help the visitors establish a five-goal lead heading into the final change.
From here, Ballarat was able to hold off Geelong to record a 48-45 win.
Pride coach Kerry Lightfoot was thrilled with the performance, which has seen her team leapfrog the Cougars into second position on the ladder.
“I think we had a bit of a flat patch and we’re back,” she told The Courier after the match.
“It was a really hard-fought team win. It was very close all the way through. We got little buffers on the way through and had to fight them off the whole time. (Geelong) shot superbly.”
Lightfoot kept all seven starting players in their positions throughout the match, saying she resisted the temptation to bring on fresh legs and risk spoiling the team’s understanding on court.
Meanwhile, Pride’s championship division girls suffered a 70-46 defeat at the hands of the Cougars.
Pride coach Daniel Cooke said changes he made to the team structure at half-time didn’t work, which preceded a disastrous third quarter that allowed the home side to run away with the match.