IT'S enough for any coach to tear their hair out. Talk about a dry July.
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But although she may need a stiff drink, Coleambally coach Maddie Mannes is confident her side can overcome the frustration of two straight one-goal defeats after falling 65-64 to North Wagga on Saturday.
It followed the Blues' shock loss by the barest of margins to second-last Barellan last week, and a draw with Temora in their previous match.
The Saints' win allowed them to consolidate fourth sport in Farrer League netball on 32 points, with the fifth-placed Blues (26) to host sixth-placed Northern Jets (20) in a critical game this Saturday.
"It (narrow losses) is very frustrating. It feels like we started (the season) so strong and have just dropped the ball a bit," Blues coach Maddie Mannes said.
"We haven't had a full team in a couple of months but it's no excuse, we have to show a bit more commitment with training I think and we'll be OK."
Saints goal shooter Olivia Lang was heavily influential, as was Margie Johnson in centre court.
"They utilised their goal shooter really well and there wasn't a whole lot we could do defensively to combat that," Mannes said.
"We got up by five (in the last quarter) at one stage and they came back. We got it back to one, but that one goal has been killing us the last few weeks."
Saints coach Matt Schofield said sticking to their game plan and structure, an issue in recent weeks, paid off down the stretch.
"We fell apart last week against The Rock in the last quarter and I talked to them about that at three quarter time," Schofield said.
"Keep faith in what we're doing and it will come.
"Olivia was fairly strong in the circle, she gives us a pretty big target to aim for and lifts the other girls as well when she starts talking."
Mannes said the Blues' recovery must start at home against the Jets.
"They're a very physical side but we're usually fairly strong at home," she said.
"We said to the girls coming into the (Saints) game it was do or die, but unfortunately it definitely is this weekend. It's going to be a stressful couple of weeks coming into the finals."
This Saturday's round features a top two blockbuster between unbeaten defending premiers The Rock-Yerong Creek and Charles Sturt University, whose only loss of the campaign was a 44-36 defeat to The Rock in early June.
In other matches on Saturday Temora retained third spot by beating the Jets 62-56, CSU beat Marrar 71-33 and TRYC were far too strong for Barellan 73-21.
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