THE LODDON VALLEY A grade netball ladder took shape after an eventful round nine.
At the half-way mark of the season it’s now hard to see the top three teams being displaced.
Mitiamo, Pyramid Hill and Newbridge all won in round nine and the third-placed Maroons now hold a handy two-game advantage over fourth-placed Bridgewater.
Newbridge took care of business in a professional manner against fifth-placed Marong.
In a contest seen as a danger game for Newbridge, the 40-30 win was arguably the Maroons’ best four-quarter performance of the season.
The 10-goal defeat did come with a silver lining for the Panthers.
Even though they lost, Marong maintained its one-game lead over Bears-Lagoon Serpentine in fifth place after the Bears went down to Calivil United in a thriller.
The Demons upstaged the Bears 48-45 to record their second win of the season.
Serpentine launched a 7-0 run to turn a four-goal deficit into a three-goal lead at quarter-time.
The Demons showed great resilience to level the scores at 29-29 by half-time.
Momentum swung in tricky conditions in the second-half, but it was Calivil who made fewew mistakes with the wet ball.
The Demons deserved their three-goal win and go into the second half of the season with renewed confidence.
Mitiamo outlasted a plucky Bridgewater 48-40 to consolidate top spot on the ladder.
The Mean Machine put together some great patches of netball, but Mitiamo’s consistency over four quarters proved to the difference.
Mitiamo has a perfect 8-0 record at the halfway mark – one game clear of second-placed Pyramid Hill.
The Bulldogs outclassed MGYCW 70-39 in round nine to extend their winning streak to five games.
It will be a much tougher encounter this Saturday when Pyramid Hill hosts Newbridge in the netball match of the round.
The Bulldogs defeated the Maroons by seven goals when they met in the opening round of the season.
The other intriguing game in round 10 is at Serpentine where the home side plays fourth-placed Bridgewater.
Last weekend’s loss to Calivil was a body blow to the Bears’ finals chances.
Claiming the scalp of a top-five team would put the Bears’ season back on track.