by Holly Slattery
The Bull Sharks have opened their Netball Queensland Ruby Series campaign with a gripping 43-39 victory over 2021 preliminary finalists USC Thunder.
The Bull Sharks were ruthless from the first whistle of the Round 2 Saturday game, storming ahead by seven points in the first five minutes before the Thunder called a tactical timeout.
Head coach Kim Boland was pleased with her new team’s lightning start and final quarter comeback in their first game of the season.
“We were super excited about the win,” the coach said.
“I went in pretty confident that we could take it out and start really strong.
“We were seven points up within the first five minutes but they called a timeout on us and came over the top of us to win the quarter 10-8.
“At one point later in the game we were down by seven points, so to come back and win by four points was an amazing effort from a young team.”
Bond captain Allanah Penny was also stoked to kickstart the season with a hard-fought win but acknowledges there is work still to be done to bring the team together.
“We came out strong in the beginning but had to find our feet in the second half and adjust to the playing style of the other team,” Penny said.
“There is definitely room for improvement in terms of our connections with each other and how we read off each other as well as our physicality, but as a whole we were really happy with how our first game went.”
Penny spent the rest of her weekend courtside, cheering on training partners Ainsley Harlow and Jorja Gisinger at the Senior Nissan State Age Championships held in Mudgeeraba.
“I hadn’t had the chance to see the training partners play before the weekend so it was really good to see them in a game situation and come away with good results.
“It was awesome to have all the Bond girls around to watch and support them; I definitely enjoyed being a part of it.”
Harlow (17) and Gisinger (16) both represented the Southport Carrara Netball Association which won the 17 years competition and placed third in the 16 years on Monday.