Sting Earn Clean Sweep Against Territory Storm

Last weekend’s round six fixture of the 2017 Australian Netball League saw a double header between the Western Sting and the Territory Storm with the Western Australian’s coming out clear winners at the conclusion of both clashes.

With the Sting requiring both wins to keep their finals hopes alive, they came out with a clear sense of determination.

This was evident in a number of exceptional attacking and defensive efforts which allowed the home side to enter the half time break with a 13 goal buffer on their opposition.

Head Coach, Michelle Wilkins took the long break as an opportunity to make some changes to her side, injecting Natalie Bright into goal defence and Tess Cransberg into wing attack.

The changes did nothing but intensify the pressure from the Western Australians as they increased their lead to 21 goals at three quarter time. 

One final change for the game saw Sunday Aryang brought into goal defence. 

The Sting’s dominance did not waiver throughout the game, the side finishing with a comfortable 33 goal victory. 

Wilkins said “I think it was good to see us build from last week’s performance and back that up.”

As well as the win, Saturday’s game also marked a significant milestone for WAIS goal shooter Sophie Garbin, as she netted her 469th goal for the season, officially breaking the record for most goals scored in one season.

“Any time a shooter can shoot 500 goals in 10 matches, an average of 50 per game, that’s no mean feat no matter what level of competition you play in,” said Wilkins. 

When asked about the record, Garbin said “it was really exciting, but to be honest I am more worried about winning and getting us into finals.”

“I was more worried about how many goals I had missed in the first half, but the girls did remind me (of the record).”

“It will give me confidence going into the next three games.”

Sunday’s match saw the same result as that of the previous day, the Sting winning by a whopping 33 goals.

With an exceptional start, the Sting found themselves 18 goals up at quarter time.

This lead continued to grow for the remaining three quarters, the Sting’s strength unchanging, no matter the combination place don court. 

It was the third quarter where the home side truly stamped their authority scoring 18 from 18 goals to give themselves a 28 goal lead at the final break.

Wilkins said “it was really important that we were building on that four quarter effort across both games this weekend.”

“I thought yesterday in particular was really pleasing with the intensity we were able to play at.”

The Western Sting now turn their attention to this weekend’s clashes against the Tasmanian Magpies.

As this is the final round before finals, the Sting will be looking to once again achieve a clean sweep of wins in order to keep their finals hopes alive.

Game one of the round will take place on Saturday at 12:00pm whilst game two will be on Sunday at 10:00am, both matches will take place at the State Netball Centre.