BY NATHAN DOLE
LEAGUE powerhouses in Sandhurst and Gisborne meet in this Saturday’s seventh round of A-grade netball in the Bendigo Bank Bendigo FNL season.
It is Indigenous Round in which the feature match will be Eaglehawk against Kyneton at Canterbury Park.
Match of the day in A-grade netball will be on Gisborne’s court at Gardiner Reserve.
The Tarryn Rymer-coached Gisborne will be striving to break Sandhurst’s unbeaten streak as second takes on first.
Gisborne has a 5-1 record, with its sole loss being a 42-44 result at Kangaroo Flat’s Dower Park in round four.
The Bulldogs dominated their latest match on Golden Square’s court at Fur Life Oval in Wade Street.
A powerful attack fed off Gisborne’s brilliance through mid-court to win 90-19.
Goals against tally for Gisborne is 174.
Pressure from the Tamara Gilchrist-coached Sandhurst will be high from the first pass until the last.
In pursuit of a fifth consecutive A-grade premiership, Sandhurst has blitzed most rivals.
A key for the maroon and blue is not just the play through mid-court and attack, but also a tight-knit defence.
In a six-nil run, Sandhurst’s winning margins have been 10, 11, 78, 30, 40 and 60 goals.
The 400th goal was scored in last week’s win against Maryborough at Queen Elizabeth Oval.
The goals against tally is 171.
Eaglehawk is at home at Canterbury Park to play Kyneton.
The Kylie Piercy-coached Eaglehawk marked its most recent home game with a 37-50 result against the third-placed Castlemaine in round four.
The Hawks could not halt Kangaroo Flat racing to a 50-goal win last round.
Kyneton will be back on court after last Saturday’s home game against Castlemaine was cancelled.
The Dianne Guest-Oakley coached Tigers have a 2-3 record after a loss at Gisborne in the fifth round.
Castlemaine is at home to play Golden Square at Camp Reserve.
The Fiona Fowler and Gary Cooke-coached Castlemaine played brilliant netball in round five to score a 55-39 victory against Kangaroo Flat on the Magpies’ court.
The Magpies have a win-loss tally of 4-1.
For the Benita Swatton-coached Golden Square an emphasis will again be on defensive play after Gisborne scored 90 goals against the blue and gold last round.
After a hard-fought draw with South Bendigo last Saturday, Strathfieldsaye is back at home at Triple M Park in Tannery Lane to take on Kangaroo Flat.
The Steph Freemantle-coached Storm has a win-loss tally of 2-3, but will have gained a lot of confidence from its fightback to claim two points in a 53-all result with South Bendigo at Harry Trott Oval.
Kangaroo Flat passed the 80-goal mark for the first time this season in the round six win at home against Eaglehawk.
It was a great response by the Jayden Cowling-coached Kangaroos as they bounced back from a 39-55 loss at Castlemaine the previous Saturday.
Maryborough is at home to take on South Bendigo at Princes Park.
The Jordan Macilwain-coached Maryborough has a 2-4 record, but faces a tough task chalking up win number three against the Bloods.
The Jannelle Hobbs-coached South Bendigo will be determined to hit back from its drawn game against Strathfieldsaye.
The Bloods make their way to the halfway mark of the season by playing Gisborne at Harry Trott Oval in round eight, and then at Castlemaine.