The Blues have won four out of their past six Murray Netball League matches, with a draw against fifth-placed Moama and a tight loss against powerhouse Rumbalara the only blemishes.
In round 10, Numurkah travelled to Barooga to take on the Hawks as the Blues hunted a spot in the top six.
Despite being favourite heading into the clash, a couple of factors loomed for Numurkah that threatened to derail coach Laura Ryan and her charges.
The arrival of winter had brought illness to the A-grade squad.
Mix that with injury niggles and some players searching for sun on European holidays and Numurkah had all the makings of a banana peel game against 10th-placed Barooga.
It didn’t matter in the end for the visitors as the Blues strolled to a 33-44 victory; their fifth of the season.
Ryan said she was pleased with how her players stepped up in a tough situation.
“It was nice to get back on the winners’ list again coming off the loss to Rumba last week, but a performance we were really proud of as well,” Ryan said.
“We really looked to take that momentum and implement some of our whole-court structures out there against Barooga.
“We had a tricky week in terms of classic winter stuff like illnesses and unavailability.
“(Barooga) were manned up with a few imports from Shepparton Bears A-grade which was handy for them and created a challenge for us.
“We just spoke about how proud we were of everyone sticking at it and grabbing the win yesterday.”
The loss against Rumbalara the round prior was by 14 goals and, given the reigning premier’s dominance in the past 18 months, Ryan said it gave her squad a lot of confidence.
Numurkah will be hoping to keep that momentum rolling through the next few weeks as it comes up against the likes of Tongala, Deniliquin, Nathalia and Mulwala.
Ryan said her players knew that with a little more consistency throughout their games, they could match it with the best in the league.
“(The loss to Rumba) created a lot of belief amongst our group for what we can dish up if we are fortunate enough to get ourselves into those positions come the pointy end of the year,” she said.
“We are looking to consolidate our four-quarter efforts.
“Really looking to take it to teams in this tough period and hoping to pull off some wins there too.”
Ryan said goal shooter Kendal Judd had demonstrated her worth on the court in the past few weeks and did so again against the Hawks.
“Kendal Judd was our best-on again, that is two weeks in a row for her,” she said.
“She has really found a heap of confidence and form and we are really excited to see what else she can dish up for us in the second half of the year.”
In other A-grade matches, Nathalia defeated Congupna by 20 goals, Deniliquin beat Moama on the road 40-49, Tongala beat Finley by 19, Rumbalara smoked Cobram 74-22 and Mulwala dominated Echuca United by 27.
