ALBURY-Wodonga Lady Bandits coach James Ballinger says victory in tomorrow night’s road clash against Sandringham would give “enormous belief” to his beleaguered players.
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Losers of 11 straight games, the Lady Bandits take on the Lady Sabres for the second time this SEABL season with high hopes they can repeat their surprise round three win.
That 81-72 triumph at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre was the only time the Border outfit has tasted victory this year and Ballinger said he is confident his players could replicate that success.
“If we can defend like we did against Dandenong, especially in the second half, we should be OK,” Ballinger said.
“And there’s no reason why we can’t do that.
“When you’ve lost 11 straight games, it’s only natural for confidence to be down.
“But we’ve tried to stay positive, highlighting the good patches and work on trying to get belief back up.
“A win would mean a lot, they’re hard to come by and would just give us enormous belief.”
It will be a flu-ridden squad that makes the trek to Sandringham, with Sophie Kleeman, Ellie Gleeson, Tenille Collins and Alex Trezise all laid low this week.
The Lady Sabres recently sacked head coach Paul Flynn after losing its first 11 games of the season and Ballinger said he was extremely wary despite Sandringham’s similar lowly status.
“It’s definitely a good opportunity for us,” Ballinger said.
“It would be our first road win of the season.”