By Marcus Uhe
Pakenham centre Jordyn Adams is forcing her way into the conversation as one of the most influential players in the Outer East Football Netball Premier Division A-Grade netball competition with another stellar performance for the Lions in Saturday’s 49-32 win over Upwey Tecoma at home.
In her first season at Toomuc Reserve, Adams has stepped into the pivotal centre roll with ease and given her Lions team an injection of quality that has them knocking on the door of the division’s ‘big three’.
It was a brilliant opening quarter from Pakenham that set up the victory, taking an 18-6 lead into the quarter time huddle.
Five of the first six goals ended in the Pakenham net, as did six of the final seven in an ominous display.
Kelly Cousins and Rose Laidlaw had height on their side against the Upwey Tecoma defenders, while Caitlin Cooke and Charlize Reid continue to solidify their defensive pairing at the other end of the court.
It was Adams in the centre, however, that got the Lions in motion.
Her tenacity on the defensive end and the energy she brings to the midcourt has been a game-changer for Pakenham, and her talent was on full display in Saturday’s contest.
A number of first-quarter intercepts left the Tigers’ shooters starved of opportunities and was a key factor in the huge quarter time lead.
Charlotte Hudolin offered a new threat in the goal circle in the second term to maintain the buffer on the Tigers, unable to make inroads into the Lions’ advantage.
Lax defending from the Tigers saw long balls into the Lions’ goal circle from the centre third on a number of occasions and Hudolin made them pay.
Pakenham scored six of the final seven goals of the half, and the first five of the second half to open up a 22-goal lead, before the Tigers fought back to hold them even for the remainder of the contest.
Pakenham won the first three quarters of the game before a late revival from Upwey Tecoma, and kept the Tigers to their lowest score of 2024, consolidating fourth place in the process.
Narre Warren returned to winning ways with a comprehensive 54-goal win over Woori Yallock at Kalora Park.
Speed on the ball was the key for the Magpies as they looked to exploit the height advantage they had in the goal circle through Grace Ioelu.
Chelsea Tonna deployed a number of deft ‘touch’ passes into her shooting partner in the first half, with a monstrous 24-7 second quarter enough to kill the contest.
Erin Bell played the majority of the second half, nailing 29 goals, and Piuti Laban added 19 in the 78-24 win.
Sophie Hennessey’s run from the back half was crucial in keeping the ball in motion for the Magpies and Julia Kaitani made an impact in just her second game at A-Grade level for 2024.
Kaitani and Abbey Barrientos forced Woori Yallock’s shooters to take long shots from away from the net, and were effective in rebounding the misses.
ROC’s up and down season continued with a comprehensive win over Berwick Springs, tallying its highest score of the season in a 75-26 result.
ROC led the contest from start to finish and kept the Titans to single-figure scores in each term while piling the points on themselves, notably with a 22-7 third quarter.
The O’Shanassy’s, Kaelah and Isabella, scored 54 goals between them in the result, that keeps ROC in with a chance of sneaking into the top six.
The Titans may have found a late-season discovery, however, with Daria Hammond-Norris scoring 19 goals.
Hammond-Norris played her first game of the season for the Titans and just the second A-Grade contest of her Titans career, with her only previous outing coming in 2022.
Emerald, however, has fallen out of the top five, replaced by the flying Monbulk Hawks, now on a four-game win streak.
One of the competition’s good stories in their adaptation to Premier Division, the Bombers received a reality check of where they need to reach in order to compete with the very best that the Division has to offer in a 20-goal loss to Wandin.
48 goals is the Bombers’ second-lowest output on the season and Kaylah Loulanting was held to only 23 goals, the first time she’s shot less than 30 all season.
Monbulk, meanwhile, piled 90 on goals onto Gembrook Cockatoo in a 63-goal win.
