Shortland stay undefeated with fourth straight win on the bounce

Shortland are the only remaining 4-0 team left after defeating Hamilton in Round 4. Picture: Tiffany Thomson

Four weeks into Season 12 of the Newcastle Dodgeball League, and just one team remains undefeated - defending minor premiers Shortland.
After two strong victories over Glendale and Bar Beach to open their season, the Scotchies nearly slipped against Waratah last week in an edgy 7-6. This week, Hamilton proved less of a speed-bump as the team looks to return to the top spot and take another shot at the playoffs.
Shortland recorded a 9-4 win over the former champions, with the Stags struggling to string points together in the early battles of the second half. Despite a tight start that saw the Stags and the eventual winners trade sets in the opening four, Hamilton would manage just two more point-wins in the following nine, slipping to the five-point loss to send them spiralling to a 1-3 record in seventh place.
The other grand final team from Season 11, Belmont, had a better run of it on Thursday evening as they downed Glendale 15-1 to return to second place over the defeated Kotara.
The Kings fell to their first loss of the season against a resurgent Waratah, who themselves were starring down the barrel of three straight losses after knocking off arch-rivals Hamilton in the opening round. The Cobras were able to clinch a 7-5 win off the back of a flurry of set-point wins late in the contest however, after the teams were locked at 4-4 before a two and a half minute sudden death round - the longest ever recorded in the NDL's 350+ official matches.
Finally, another record was broken in Round 4 of the season, as Bar Beach and Raymond Terrace played out a lightning-quick 21-set contest that saw the Boomers move ahead 11-10 to bag their second win of the season. The match cleared the next highest set-count for a match by just one, with the former record set by the same teams in their Round 13 meeting just last season. The Raccoons were the victors of that meeting, 14-6.
STANDINGS: Shortland (12), Belmont, Kotara (10), Waratah, Bar Beach (8), Raymond Terrace, Hamilton (6), Glendale (4).