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ST Albans gave its finals hopes a huge boost by defeating competition powerhouse St Mary's in the only game of GFL netball on Saturday.
The two teams entered the match on equal points in fourth and fifth on the ladder, making the result crucial.
Di Honey stepped in as coach for the Supersaints in the absence of Nicole Richardson, who had Australian Netball League commitments.
"We didn't have too many passengers today. We had everyone firing and that makes a difference," Honey said after the six goal win.
"I am just very pleased, they were disciplined in what I asked them to do and it worked.
"It's good that we've cemented this win because it will probably determine what happens with finals and where they sit on the ladder.
"I knew that they were going to be hard to beat and I expected actually a loss today, but the girls really stuck to the game plan which was man on man pressure and defensive pressure right through, and in the end that really got us the game."
St Albans moved the ball well as wet conditions evened up the play by slowing down St Mary's usual fast-paced game style.
Elizabeth Birch gave an influential performance as did Sharni Godfrey who did a great job at limiting St Mary's Amy Caldow early in the match.
Defenders Olivia Mitchell and Sarah Jackson forced many turnovers while Nicole Laurelli worked hard to secure a leading score at the other end.
In the absence of captain Bess Schnioffsky, Mitchell took on the leadership role and rose to the occasion to be named best on court.
"Our game plan was basically going man on man over the whole court, using our spatial awareness and just having a player drive straight through the middle and cutting their defence open," Mitchell said.
"We just need to keep putting four quarters together."
Following the bye St Albans will face Leopold who sit third on the ladder and defeated by 32 goals in round four.
St Mary's lets chances slip - Jemma Ryan
ST Mary's coach Simone Segrave couldn't hide her disappointment with the side's 34-28 loss to St Albans on Saturday.
The game was crucial to St Mary's finals campaign as it appears it will battle St Albans and Geelong West-St Peter's for a place come the end of the season.
"We've got a really tough ride home so we'll probably have to pull our fingers out," Segrave said.
"There were a few things that could have gone either way; we knew it was going to be tough and physical, so I suppose we just need to take responsibility for ourselves.
"We should have won today and we're disappointed and the girls will probably think 'what if' but they need to be responsible for their game and what went wrong. Hopefully they will take something from this game but we are very disappointed that we lost today."
Captain of St Mary's, Renee Garing, was quick to credit the obvious improvements being made by St Albans, but said her team had plenty of work to do.
"I think the team as a whole we're a lot stronger than last year probably because they've played together a bit more now, but I probably don't think we played our best netball. We didn't really bring it for four quarters," the star centre said.
Garing admitted now her side needed to win one of its tougher matches to make up for the unexpected loss to St Albans.
"I think we both have a tough run home but we might possibly have a couple of harder ones so that was why this game was so important but we just have to try to beat some of the top teams to get those points and hopefully we can do that."
Defender Kate Slattery fought hard all day and goaler Gabrielle Henderson tried to make the most of scoring opportunities where possible but St Mary's failed to capitalise enough to take control of the game.
"Defensively we got the turnovers but we couldn't really capitalise. We had the opportunities but didn't take advantage of that and obviously their goal defence is going to get the rebounds when you're that tall and athletic," Garing said.
Positives for St Mary's were a standout game from Lucinda Vercher.
The Saints face Colac next round.
's stand out game and an improvement in the side's transition from attack to defence which Segrave identified as key to beating the top sides in coming weeks.
Following the bye St Marys will face Colac who they had a ten goal victory over in round four.
"I think it's just that we need to use the loss motivation to work harder and use the things that weren't working this week work next week and the week after that. We'll have some time together at training and do some social things just to connect a bit more as a team because that shows on court when you're not" said Garing.
