Barooga fell to Tongala by eight goals in Murray Netball League A-grade action at the weekend, but it was only a few minutes of play which cost the Hawks victory.
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After a slow start, the Hawks picked themselves back up and battled hard throughout the contest, but another flurry from the Blues late pushed the scoreline out to a 41-33 result.
‘‘Unfortunately it didn’t go our way in the end,’’ Barooga coach Sharni Hazelman said.
‘‘Probably the first sort of five minutes of the game we let them get out to a fast start and then it was goal-for-goal for most of the rest of the match before we let them get away late.
‘‘So it was even for most of the game.
‘‘It felt like a little bit of a nervy start maybe, but we fought back and went goal-for-goal after that.’’
Carmen O’Dwyer and Hazelman were among Barooga’s better performers on the day, but the Hawks leader was happy with her entire group.
‘‘To the girls’ credit when finals aren’t in sight it can be hard to stay motivated, but they’re still getting out there and making teams work for it and giving their all,’’ Hazelman said.
‘‘Carmen’s pressure was great and she rebounded strongly and I was in goals which was a bit of a different position for me.’’
The Hawks will rest this weekend, before taking on cross-border rival Cobram in the second week of the league’s split-round.
‘‘It’s always a good game when we come up against them,’’ Hazelman said.
‘‘We played them early in the season and sort of let them run away with it so this time we want to be more competitive, and a win would be lovely.’’