THOROUGHBREDS VS. FALCONS BLACK

Falcons Black travelled to Norwich this week to play Thoroughbreds in the England Netball Premier League Division 2 game (16/12/12).

The game took some time to get going, with both the Falcons Black’s and Thoroughbreds’ defences producing a number of turnovers in the early stages. However, it was the home team that opened up the scoring after two minutes of play, which ironically seemed to settle both sides. The game then opened up and some fast through court play followed, with Falcons Black matching Thoroughbreds goal-for-goal. Further defensive pressure by Falcons Black then forced Thoroughbreds to fumble the ball off the back line, which resulted in the away team converting and finish the first quarter one goal up (11-12).

Unlike the first period, both teams started the second quarter with patient attacking play, which made it difficult for each side’s defenders to turn over balls. Falcons Black’s Kaylea McQuade (Centre, C) and Katie Flaherty (Wing Attack, WA) were working well around the edge of the attacking circle and providing a number of great feeds to shooters, Christie Simpson and Charlotte Roye. The second quarter ended even at 27-27.

Changes were made at half time with Sofija Djukic coming on at Centre (C).

The third quarter started in a scrappy manner again as both defences were on top once more, each working tirelessly to turn over whatever they could. In particular, the defensive pressure from Falcons Black’s Dominique McKee (Wing Defence, WD), Lauren Steadman (Goal Defence) and Issy Beighton (Goal Keeper, GK) forced Thoroughbred’s attack into make a number of errors but unfortunately for the away team, they were unable to capitalise on the openings and finished the quarter two goals down (41-39).

Thoroughbreds came out firing for the final fifteen minutes, which saw them score the first four goals of the quarter. Falcons Black were slow to respond though and even went a further five goals down. The away team now had a mighty battle on their hands and although they managed to compete for the rest of the quarter, they could not recover from their earlier blow.

The final score was 62-52. It is a score line, which didn’t reflect the game, nor did it reflect Falcons Black’s great performance. The team had held their own for most of the match against one of the best sides in the league. The defence had worked well as a unit, whilst the attack had created a number of options, with both shooters on top scoring form.