Bond Bull Sharks turned it on in hostile territory to tame reigning premier Brisbane North Cougars to the tune of 59-54 in Round 9 of the Hart Sapphire Series yesterday.
It's the second time in as many weeks the once unbeatable Cougars have lost a Sapphire game to one of the two Gold Coast-based franchises which sets things up nicely ahead of next weekend's 'Clash of the Coast' local derby between Bond and its cross town rival, Gold Coast Titans.
In the Ruby game, Bond failed to capitalise on a promising start. They went down 38-54.
How it unfolded
Sapphire
The Bull Sharks led North Brisbane at quarter time and again at the half before a barnstorming third quarter saw them pull away to a what proved an unassailable lead.
The proud Cougars did what they could to wrestle back a few goals in the final ten minutes, but Bond held their nerve to ice their best performance of the season.
What the coach said
“It's not so much about ‘beating the Cougars’. More importantly it's the fact that we stayed in the game for 60 minutes, committed to our game plan and were accountable to our individual roles on court,” Head Coach Bec Stower said.
“Although we led most of the game, at one point Cougars got a couple up on us,” she said. “In previous matches, we let the wheels fall off for a run, and we had to work too hard to recoup the goals lost.
“To the girls’ credit they worked together, and openly communicated and supported one another to keep focused on being in control of our phases of play. I’m so proud of them.
“They are a committed, hard working group of athletes who have steadily been building, taking feedback onboard and applying it. They deserved the outcome yesterday.”
Ruby
It was a far less celebratory mood in the Ruby camp. Bond entered the match full of confidence after a stirring victory over Ipswich Jets the week before but couldn’t bring the same intensity this time around. After a bright start earned Bond the quarter time lead, the Bull Sharks stumbled and eventually fell to a 16-goal defeat.
What the coach said
“Unfortunately this week we were again punished for our inability to play four full quarters,” Coach Kim Boland said. “We had a great start and were only four goals down going into the last quarter when things just fell away.
“Credit to the Cougars. They really capitalised on our errors in that last quarter and punished us on the scoreboard.
“The girls are disappointed, but all were accountable for their individual performances which is really encouraging to see. We now turn our focus to the must win games ahead of us.”
What’s next
A massive double-header weekend awaits the Bull Sharks.
Both teams will face Carina Tigers at the State Netball Centre on Saturday afternoon.
It’ll be a stern test for the Bull Sharks Ruby team who will need to find something special against the clear competition frontrunner. Bond's Sapphire squad will be chomping at the bit for another crack at Carina after falling just one goal short at their earlier encounter.
A massive local crowd is likely at Carrara Indoor Sports Centre in Sunday when Bond hosts the Gold Coast Titans in the season’s second ‘Clash of the Coast’.