By DANIEL SAVILLE

IT took five minutes of magic by Thurgoona to shake a determined Dederang–Mount Beauty in their Tallangatta & District Netball Association A grade clash on Saturday afternoon.

The Bombers were competitive for a large majority of the game but couldn't maintain the rage for the full four quarters against the third–placed Bulldogs, going down by only nine goals in the 43–52 loss.

Scores were level at quarter time (12–12) and again at half–time (24–24), as the home side, who were without centre Elise Stewart, were only two quarters away from what would have been a memorable win in their first game at Dederang in 2023.

In a sign of how competitive they were against a genuine finals side, the Bombers only lost one quarter, but Thurgoona ran rampant in the third quarter with a 16–6 scoreline to take the game out of reach.

DMB managed to win the final quarter but the damage on the scoreboard had already been done.

Mid–courter Alex Novak and shooter Alysha de Koeyer, who kept the home side in the game with 30 goals, were the Bombers' best players.

A grade netball coach Novak took plenty of positives from the game despite the defeat.

"We came out strongly from the first minute and took it up to them with our own style of play – we found our rhythm and flow really early in the game," Novak said.

"It was only the first five minutes of the third quarter that was the difference in the game.

"It was a similar situation when we played Chiltern – we will have a think about what our game strategy will be going forward as we come into the second half to make sure that this pattern doesn't continue.

"Consistent combinations on the court have helped us do well so far but we will look to see what can give us that competitive advantage going in to the second half and I think we are ready to take some more risks on the court."

Despite the loss over the weekend, Dederang–Mount Beauty sit only a game out of the top five with a 5–4 record, but face second–placed Yackandandah in Dederang this weekend, in what will be another chance to test themselves against a team looking to feature at the pointy end of the season.

"We are really excited to get these opportunities to play the best teams and we are already buzzing with excitement," Novak said.

In other senior netball results, DMB's B grade (32–63) and C grade (18–84) were both overpowered by Thurgoona.