Orioles take convincing win against Darters

Aided by the accuracy of their goal shooters, the Perth Orioles took out an easy 64-42 win at home against the AIS Canberra Darters last night.

This was the third win for the West Australian side, which suffered a gut wrenching six-point defeat to the threatening Hunter Jaegers last week. Sitting pretty a win away from making the top four, the Orioles need to improve on their dominant performance last night when they take on the Kestrels in Melbourne next Saturday.

Narrowly beating the Queensland Firebirds last week, the Kestrels sit a spot down from their Perth counterparts and provide an easy opportunity for the Orioles to take two points and move into the top four. The Darters meanwhile are languishing in seventh spot, going through a rebuilding phase as they lost eight members from last season to other teams.

The Darters threw everything they could at the fifth-placed side, coach Michelle Wilkins moving numerous players to different positions as she searched for a winning line up. In comparison Orioles coach Carol Byres kept her chargers where they played best, not moving or taking anyone off for the entire game.

For the Orioles the match was won with their efforts in defence and the tried and true partnership of Nikala Smith and Janelle Lawson working for them under the net.

Captain Sam Lee led her pack from the back, the Orioles coming from three goals down in the first quarter with some watertight defence. Lee gave shooter Kate Beveridge a tough time as she intercepted many passes from Darters wingers and threw the ball back up the court.

Lawson, a tall attacker and member of the Under 21 squad, netted 30 of her 33 attempts last night, finishing many plays created by the Orioles with a positive result. Being only her fifth match at this level, Lawson showed class and in time will be putting pressure on national coach Norma Plummer to find room for her somewhere in the Australian Squad.

Her partner in crime in Smith also got the points on the board, scoring 34 goals from 49 attempts. Another under 21 national, Smith has also enjoyed an excellent start to the Commonwealth Bank Trophy but was a little less accurate for the night. Darters defenders Claire McMeniman and Brooke Thompson had some early success on the goal shooter, pressuring Smith to make some shooting errors throughout the night.

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