Live stream: Victorian Netball League, Round 5 - Hawks v Southern Saints

Experienced shooter Emily Andrew has put an exclamation mark on the Saints hot start to the Victorian Netball League season. RE-WATCH their Round 5 clash with Hawks.

Southern Saints have continued their explosive start to the Victorian Netball League Championship season with a strong win over the Hawks.

The Saints, who improve to four wins over the opening five rounds, held off a willing Hawks side 60-51 at Victoria’s State Netball Centre.

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Emily Andrew led the way for the Saints on the attacking end shooting 39 goals with only six misses, while young gun Annabelle Gorman added 20 goals with only one miss.

But it was in the midcourt where the Saints did their most damage with experienced centre Rylee Nelson leading the way in a strong 29 minute performance.

Shooter Kaylia Stanton led the way for the Hawks on the scoring end with 41 goals and six misses.

In the Under-19s clash, which went down to the wire, a wayward pass in the final seconds from Saints allowed the Hawks to score a 38-37 victory.

While in the Division 1 clash there was no stopping the Hawks, who cemented their spot in the top two with a 55-43 victory over the Saints.

REPLAYS

Victorian Netball League Round 5 - Wilson Storage Saints v Hawks Netball (Championship)

Replay: Victorian Netball League Round 5 - Wilson Storage Saints v Hawks Netball (19&U)

Replay: Victorian Netball League Round 5 - Wilson Storage Saints v Hawks Netball (Div 1)

PREVIEW: Hawks determined to maintain winning ways

Hawks Netball coach AJ Ballantyne says he hasn’t forced the issue of his side getting among the early VNL logjam at the top.

The Hawks, who sit in sixth spot with two win from their first four matches, are narrowly behind four sides all sitting on three wins.

One of those sides is the Wilson Storage Southern Saints, the team the Hawks will clash with on Friday in a tripleheader exclusively streamed on KommunityTV from 7pm.

Check the schedule below for times

Ballantyne hasn’t smothered his Hawks players with the importance of staying in touch with the top five, instead asking them to remain focused on developing as a group.

“We have played three of last year’s top four in the first three weeks,” he said.

“We knew it would be a challenging start and I said to the girls, if we could come out of those first four rounds two and two, then it would be a really good result and we’ve done that.

“Saints are playing some really good netball and have knocked off some strong teams, so it is an important game.

“But I think if we keep doing what we’re doing, and keep improving week to week, then we’re every chance of knocking off good teams like Saints.”

Goal shooter Kaylia Stanton will be a key for the Hawks.

The Hawks recorded a strong win over Melbourne University Lightning before the Easter break, and while he said the week off provided a chance to “refresh”, Ballantyne hoped his group could continue its momentum.

“To be honest, we wished the break hadn’t come around because we had just hit our straps,” he said.

“We had a really good win against MU, but it’s a good chance for the girls to refresh and play with a couple of things.

“We’re pretty confident we can carry that good form into Round 5.

“We’ve got a lot of new combinations this year, we have three or four players new to Championship, so it’s been about getting that consistency.”