“Game of the round” honours for round 10 go to the Forestville-Norwood battles at Wayville on Saturday, despite three of the four combatants not putting in the most convincing of performances last round.

Two weeks ago, Norwood’s men and women travelled to Pasadena and lost two critical games to Sturt. With Jacob Holmes and Darren Ng lightning it up as they did, some would have predicted a Sabre victory in the men’s game, but few would have been brave enough to wager on a 49 point margin. The Flames were down by 21 at quarter time then were kept to just 8 points in the second quarter. The one-sidedness of the game was surprising given that the teams were second and third on the ladder, though it is difficult to say whether the result signifies a sub-par performance from Norwood, an indication that Sturt are now clear favourites to win the competition, or both.

The margin of 13 points in the corresponding women’s game was not as unexpected, especially given the 23 point return from Angela Marino and the addition of Katie Orr (nee Langford) to the Sturt lineup. Orr’s athleticism is a bonus for the Sabres’ rebounding and her defensive intensity helped Sturt keep their last two opponents to 54 points (Eastern) and 56 points (Norwood). Even so, prior to the game, Norwood were outright second and Sturt tied for fifth, and with Monique Bowley possibly returning to the team before the end of the season, Sturt could boast five players with WNBL experience by finals time.

Forestville’s men retained its unbeaten record at the season’s half-way point, but had a much tougher time of it than expected against Eastern. The Eagles looked comfortable with a 17 point lead heading into the final quarter, but slightly less so when the lead was just 5 points with 2 minutes to go. A corner three pointer from Brad Sullivan steadied the ship, but Forestville would not have been satisfied with the result, albeit that it played without Peter Hoban, Brenton Campbell and Doug MacDonald-Taylor.

In the women’s game, Forestville looked a lot more comfortable, racing away to a 34-9 lead at quarter time. Eastern showed some fight in the second quarter to reduce the lead to 16, but by that stage, the damage had been done. Former Lightning guard Dee Ranford led the way for the Eagles with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, but a team field goal percentage of 49% (higher then its free throw percentage of 46%) was indicative of many uncontested shots in the first quarter.

Given last week’s results, the Forestville Norwood matchups are both difficult to predict. Forestville’s men will be aided by the return of Peter Hoban, and Norwood, who at full strength have the biggest front court in the competition, will be without David Cooper and possibly Dan Thompson. Todd Matthews will be a handful for Forestville’s guards and it will be interesting to see which of Forestville coach Andy Simons’ four starting guards he opts to start on Matthews.

Picking a winner for the women’s game isn’t any easier. Rebecca Duke is a standout and still went within three assists of a triple double last week despite constant pressure, but the Flames will need contributions from Michelle Trewartha, Amanda Williams and Lisa Ackroyd to match the WNBL experience of Ranford, Jess Mahony and Mia Newley.