By LIAM TWOMEY
VU Western Lightning suffered its second loss in the Victorian Netball League season on Wednesday night.
The Lightning went down to Boroondara Genesis by four goals at the State Netball and Hockey Centre.
In their second match in the space of five days, VU was slow out of the blocks against one of the league’s leading teams.
The Lightning fell five goals behind at quarter time and the deficit increased to eight at the main break.
From there, VU was able to regroup and launch its fight back.
With Sophie Gunn in goals, the Lightning drew level in the third quarter.
However, three late goals to Genesis proved crucial as Boroondara regained its composure and secured the 44-40 win.
“At this level of the competition, if you give a team a start and you have to chase them down, you’re going to use a lot of energy,” VU coach Matt Hills said.
“When we got our ducks in a row in the third quarter, we were able to come back to level just before three-quarter time. Unfortunately, we allowed them to score the last three goals of the third quarter … that was probably a significant moment.
“The last quarter became a bit of a scrap between two hard working but tired teams.”
The result sees VU drop to fourth place on the VNL ladder with a 3-2 win/loss record for the season.
The Lightning will now enjoy a week off before returning to take on Yarra Valley Grammar Ariels.
“Against the two top teams we have played, we have given them both a start and been forced to try and chase them down,” Hills said.
“There are some good signs as well. I think it (coming back) shows the quality of our outfit and our resolve, but when the heat of the battle was on early, we weren’t able to execute. It is something that we are going to work on now that we have got this break.
“We will work really hard over the next couple of weeks to start to rectify this.”
In other VNL results, City West Falcons remain undefeated and on top of the VNL ladder after their fifth win of the season.
The Falcons were too good for Geelong Cougars, running out 60-41 winners.
