On a high from their first win of the season last week, Paulton's Tomahawks confidently took to the court against Sharks, determined to continue their winning streak.
Paulton started the first quarter strongly, with Davina and Cheryl matching the shooting accuracy of Sharks' GS to make the first fifteen minutes a battle for match dominance. Both teams worked hard to secure goals from each centre pass, with Jade and Hayley feeding the circle with great accuracy and fluency. After the first quarter, the teams drew 11–11.
A positive team talk from Manager, Debbie, and reserve, Laura, set the tone for the second quarter, with only one rotation taking place between attackers, Jade and Hayley, swapping positions C and WA. The second quarter started slowly for Paulton, with Sharks making a number of interceptions to just edge forward. However, as Paulton found their rhythm, their match play improved with Victoria, GD, and Darby, WD, linking up well to support the attack to continually push forward for the ball, playing it around the circle to find the gaps for Cheryl and Davina to shoot. With everyone working in sync, the team defended hard throughout the court, with Darby picking up loose circle edge balls and Victoria and Ness securing rebounds as Sharks' shooters began to feel the pressure. The second quarter finished 18–15.
Half-time saw a tactical change with Cheryl moving back to GK to give Paulton the height advantage in defence, with Ness moving to WA, Hayley to WD and Darby pairing up with her sister to play GA. Once again, this combination worked with the young attack of Davina and Darby holding their own in the semi-circle against a competitive defence. Cheryl also found her feet quickly at GK, constantly tipping high balls away from the GS, with Victoria intercepting bounce passes to put Sharks' circle feeders under pressure. As the team continued to dig deep, the score-line increased, allowing them to enter the final quarter 31–25 up.
The final quarter saw Cheryl move back to GA, Darby to WA and Ness to GK, this once again confused Sharks, making it difficult for them to close the gap early into the quarter. The team continued to defend hard, with Hayley making fantastic charge-downs and Ness working hard to pressure the GS's movement. As the final minutes passed, Paulton were able to up the tempo of the game to another level, increasing their goal score to win 42–33.
Tomahawks would like to thank Jane for umpiring and Laura for reserving. They would also like to thank their supporters for cheering them on in the exciting match.