THE Hamilton Kangaroos have continued their push towards Hampden Football Netball League Open finals, fighting out a 46-46 draw against second-placed Koroit on Saturday.

With Kellie Sommerville missing the game, Clare Crawford shifted into centre and the home team burst out of the blocks and opened up a three-goal lead.

From then, the two teams exchanged goals at either end to give the Kangaroos a 16-11 lead at the first break.

Koroit had no answer in the second term, as the home team stretched the margin out to seven goals and confidence continued to build within the blue and white.

The third quarter was when the Saints made their move, scoring 17 goals and grabbing the lead late in the quarter, taking a three-goal advantage into the final term.

It was a tense battle with momentum see-sawing between both teams, and when Crawford left the court for medical attention, it was up to the home team to dig deep, and when she finally returned, the Kangaroos continued to push hard right to the end.

The Roos had possession and was heading towards the goal circle when the final buzzer sounded with scores unable to be split.

Kelsey Lewis impressed once again, putting up 29 goals, while Nell Mitchell matched the total at the other end for Koroit.

Kangaroos coach, Nat O’Dea said it was a glass half-full approach following the game.

“I had the time going and I was screaming,” she said.

“I am not disappointed by any stretch of the imagination, in the first round we lost to them by 33 goals.

“To me it does count (as a scalp), now looking forward we have three or four winnable games and that is what we have got to do.

“So to come back and get a draw, that is testament to what the girls have done.

“That is another top three side, we got a draw but we got within three and seven goals against the other two teams.”

The Kangaroos were without Eve Duckmanton, along with Sommerville, and the determination of the group was evident.

“We haven’t been able to grind out 60 minutes of netball, that is our first game we have grinded 60 minutes of netball out and we got the draw,” O’Dea said.

“Without Eve and Kellie, it was a really good performance and to get three quarters of a game under the belt for Leesa was also important.

“The girls are really fired up and they also know what they are up against to make finals, so to get two points is important.

“We can use these results as motivation and the motivation is finals.”

The Kangaroos are just two points behind sixth-placed Portland and three wins outside the top five.