HAMILTON Kangaroos put up a brave fight on Saturday at Reid Oval against the Warrnambool Blues in the Hampden Football Netball League (HFNL) Open netball division as they couldn’t quite complete a big upset losing to the home side by just four goals.

The Warrnambool match-up was a big challenge for the blue and white, but the Roos were optimistic that they had what it took to cause an upset and put their fourth win of the year on the board.

While the Roos managed to stay with the Blues for the entire duration of the game and put up a consistent four-quarter effort, the home team had a bit more polish and just did enough to maintain its lead at each break.

Warrnambool got a little jump on Hamilton in the first quarter as both teams moved the ball freely up and down the court and capitalised on opportunities, leaving the Roos to trail by six goals at the first break.

The Roos surged and pushed hard threatening to hit the lead and take home the points, but for every good bit of play from the blue and white, the Blues quickly responded.

The margin was five goals at half time, 28-23, and then after an arm wrestle in the third term, the margin still remained at five goals.

Hamilton edged closer to victory in the last quarter outscoring Warrnambool to fall agonisingly short by just four goals at the end of the game with the score at 47-43.

Kangaroos’ senior coach, Nat O’Dea was full of praise for the group for its gallant effort to bring down the formidable Blues outfit.

“The girls played well; they really needed the win, but the Blues were too good on the day,” she told The Spectator.

“Warrnambool are a top five side and they proved that on the weekend, we got back to only one (goal) down mid-way through the third quarter, we had our opportunities.”

The loss sees Hamilton in seventh position on the ladder with a 3-7 season record while Warrnambool survives a scare to sit in fourth at 8-3.

While the win-loss record doesn’t look great for the blue and white, O’Dea felt that if the team was on its game, they could beat anyone in the competition.

Our ladder position nor win loss record doesn’t reflect the team list of players we have,” she said.

“We have had such a great middle patch of the season, despite not having a full team list to play with (and) I’m pleased with how the girls have played their past five matches.”

There were no injuries to come out of the game, however Kellie Sommerville was a big loss and could’ve been the difference in the close game, she remains sidelined.

Kelsey Lewis led the way for Hamilton Kangaroos under the ring as she took her chances and converted on opportunities to score a game-high 32 goals with assistance from Hayley Sherlock who contributed 11.

O’Dea said Portland was the next big challenge after the bye and the side knew the importance of the game.

“Portland is a must-win game for the girls, not only for themselves and their confidence, we need to continue to push teams higher on the ladder,” she said.

“We are always looking to improve, we made some fundamental errors, basic skill errors (and) simple lapses in concentration.

“But I must also remember we are playing an extremely high standard of netball, the pressure and concentration for 60 minutes - it’s intense.”

Portland sits just one place above the Roos on the ladder after the round one win ahead and to beat the Tigers is a must if Hamilton want to make a late charge towards finals.