GOAL shooting recruit Yolande Miller led from the front as South Bendigo broke through for its second win of the BFNL season, with a crushing win over Castlemaine.
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Miller, playing only her third game in red and white after joining the Bloods mid-season from South Barwon, shot 66 of her side's 70 goals in an impressive 47-goal victory in the wet at Camp Reserve.
The Bloods won 70-23.
In last place on the BFNL ladder before Saturday, South Bendigo jumped two spots to sixth ahead of next week's interleague bye.
They now sit two wins behind fifth-placed Eaglehawk (4-4), which had a bye on Saturday.
Strathfieldsaye consolidated fourth spot, moving four points clear of the Hawks with a crucial 40-29 win at home over Golden Square.
While finals remain a long-shot for the Bloods, particularly with consecutive matches against heavyweights Kangaroo Flat, Gisborne and Sandhurst to follow after next week's league-wide bye, they are not entirely out of the equation.
Following some competitive netball in recent weeks, highlighted by a narrow three-goal loss to Strathfieldsaye the previous week, Bloods coach Alicia McGlashan said her side had been hellbent on getting back on the winner's list and proving that it was much better than its ladder position indicated.
"After a few really close games, it was nice to finally pull one off. It's so great for the team and our confidence," she said.
"We set ourselves a goal of keeping them under 25 goals and we were able to do that.
"It was a fantastic effort by everyone.
"Yolande Miller's 66 goals were amazing. We are so happy with that pick-up.
"And our other recruit, Holly Gray, stepped in for her second game.
"We didn't have (her sister) Chloe this week, so Holly had to take over at centre, and her and Ella (Flavell) worked in beautifully with (goal attack) Izzy (Coutts) to feed in to Yolande.
"It was absolutely wonderful to watch."
Miller who brings valuable VNL experience with her to the Bloods, was a former teammate of midcourter Flavell at the Geelong Cougars last season.
She laid the foundations for a big day with 16 goals (from 18 attempts) in the opening term and followed up with 15 (from 16) in the second quarter.
It only got better from there.
Given their recent good form, McGlashan said a breakout performance by the Bloods had been coming.
"We have been so competitive this year. It's really unfortunate that we haven't got the wins where we really should have finished our games off, and we haven't played out the four quarters," she said.
"Given the inconsistency of the draw and the fact we've lost our two goalers from last year, it's been a really tough first half of the season.
"But our ladder position has not shown the strength of our team, so today we really did show we have what it takes.
"It was such a nice team effort. Coming thorugh the court, everyone worked so well off each other."
After a few really close games, it was nice to finally pull one off. It's so great for the team and our confidence
- Alicia McGlashan
Castlemaine fell to the bottom of the ladder and has only one win after eight games.
The Magpies' sole win was against South Bendigo in round two.
At Strathfieldsaye, the Storm survived an early scare from Golden Square.
The Bulldogs led by a goal at quarter time, before the Storm wrested control of the contest in the second quarter on their way to their fifth win of the season.
