PORTLAND had some moments of impressive court play during their Open Hampden Netball League clash against Koroit on Saturday, it was small stints of a drop in focus that led to their 58-29 loss.

Kicking off the match they managed to go goal-for-goal with the top-three side early in the first quarter before a small lapse in play led the Saints to pile on five unanswered goals to build an 11-5 margin.

“We had some really good passages of play down the court we’re just lacking that consistency,” co-coach Ellen Zeunert said.

“We matched them for about five or six goals and then in the last four minutes of the first quarter they piled on some quick goals, and we just didn’t settle quick enough.

“In saying that it has to be expected with the numbers we get at trainings and they different line ups each week it’s hard to string four full quarters together.”

Portland welcomed the services of South West District Netball League players Sienna Stone and Brooke Polaski into the goal circle throughout the game, pairing with Heidi Jones against a tough Koroit defensive outfit.

“Sienna and Brooke did really well in there – both took a bit of time to adjust to the pace of the game but once they did, they were good to go,” Zeunert said.

“Heidi is great as always; she does such a good job in there.”

Both sides lifted their scoring efforts in the second quarter with Koroit heading into half time ahead, 25-12 and continuing their scoring pace with Nell Mitchell in goal shooter dominating under post to hit 46 goals for the game.

While the end result was a bigger margin than what the side was hoping for, Zeunert said if they can minimise their moments of erratic play, they can match these teams for longer.

“For us we struggle to get a full four quarters together sometimes,” she said.

“We have a turnover and then that keeps happening for a few minutes, it’s about traying to be in the moment and limit the amount of time we spend throwing the ball away after one bad pass.

“It’s certainly not through lack of effort and work rate – the girls push so hard every game.”

The side welcomed back the services of captain Remy Grant on the weekend as well as Lexie Petch through the midcourt.

“It was great to have Rem back in to be that steady presence, we started her in wing defence and then swung her into the centre,” Zeunert said.

“Katie (Zeunert) had another great game too and Lexie (Petch) was back in for us and had one of her best games yet.

“It was Toni’s (Rowe) last game for us too, she’s been great in there with Mads (Stone) who works so hard every week.

“We have a lack of height across the court and we’re coming up against some big players, but the girls are always working so hard.

“They’re a great core group and step on the court each week and give it everything.”

Other games

In other games across the Open competition, second-placed Cobden defeated Hamilton 55-43, while North Warrnambool overcame Terang-Mortlake, 66-51.

South Warrnambool continued their dominance in the competition defeating Camperdown, 73-26, while Warrnambool defeated Port Fairy 50-29.