Week two of the Regional League Division 2 netball season resulted in a loss for Lincoln City 2. Lincoln City 2 started well against Brigg & District with some brilliant drives at centre passes from Wing Attack, Zoe Cooper and Goal Attack, Vicky Bayes. With a fairly new formation of Lizzie Saywell and Jade Houlton in defence, they were also able to overturn possession on several occasions, meaning the score was a close 9 goals to 12 in Brigg & District's favour after the first quarter.
The second quarter saw a change in mid court as Emily Coulter came on at centre and Megan Samways moved to Wing Defence. However, Brigg managed to steal a nine-goal lead and Lincoln City 2 finished the quarter 17-26 down. After a change of tactics, which saw Jade moved to Goal Shooter alongside Laura Forsey to provide more height in the attacking third, Lincoln City 2 were hoping to close the gap. The switch proved shaky at first, but once settled the team eventually won the quarter. The defensive partnership of Vic Adams and Lizzie saw many turnovers in their end of the court and helped to take Brigg’s lead down to 5 goals. By the end of the second quarter the score was Lincoln CIty 2 26-31 Brigg & District. Lincoln City 2 went into the fourth quarter, confident of turning the match around. However, Brigg's fantastic shooting, which had been of a consistently high standard throughout the match, saw them through in the end. By the time a late injury had resulted in the Bayes sisters moving into attack, the deficit was too much and Lincoln City 2 lost their second game of the season 33-49. The team were a credit to themselves, never giving up and defending as a whole team but it was just not to be their day. Player of the Match went to Emily Coulter for her impressive performance for so many quarters at Centre. Week two of the Regional League Division 1 netball season resulted in a loss for Lincoln City 1. Having won last week, the team were feeling confident but faced stiff competition from Hinckley Hurricanes who had a tight defence and a tall shooter. Lincoln City 1 began the game well with a fairly new combination of Beth Richardson at Wing Defence and Emily Coulter at Centre. Angie White started particularly well and her quick and cunning thinking early on in the game allowed her to use the post to her advantage from a back line.
Hinckley had started well but once Lincoln City 1 had settled, the shooting of Angie and Anna Gilbert (Goal Shooter) was excellent. The defence of Lucy Heathershaw, Laura Bartle and Beth also put lots of pressure on Hinckley Hurricanes and allowed Lincoln City 1 to claw back some vital goals, ending the first quarter only 12-14 down. Hinckley began the second quarter well but continued to be put under pressure from Lincoln City 1. Meanwhile, Lincoln's defence provided good support up the court, although they were unable to capitalise on any turnovers and ended the second quarter 21-27 down. For the third quarter, Lincoln made a change and brought Katherine Sturton on at Wing Attack. Her driving at centre passes was excellent, but Lincoln seemed to force the ball into the shooters, therefore losing possession on numerous occasions. They ended the quarter 25-42. Lincoln began the final quarter well, scoring three goals on the bounce. They switched Laura Bartle and Beth Richardson to Wing Defence and Goal Defence respectively and brought Gemma Carter back on at Wing Attack. The effort of all members of the Lincoln City 1 was inspiring as they tried to fight back to earn a point from the game. The match finished 36-55. Player of the Match went to Laura Bartle for her defensive tips and interceptions throughout the game. Falcons Black, the East Midlands’ Premier Division 2 netball team, started the season with a home game against Norwich-based, Thoroughbreds. Last season, Thoroughbreds competed in Premier Division 1 so Falcons Black knew that it would be a tough game from the very first centre pass.
However, Falcons Black made a great start to the game, especially considering the fresh, young faces that were in the starting seven. Some slick play, accurate shooting and impressive interceptions contributed to the new players making a positive impact and allowing Falcons Black to take a three-point advantage going into quarter time. No changes were made to either side for the second quarter but Thoroughbreds came out firing, including having some early crucial turnovers to edge into the lead. Further losses of possession and infringements by Falcons Black allowed Thoroughbreds to take full advantage. In particular, Thoroughbred’s 6’4” Goal Shooter made no mistakes and gradually helped pull her team’s score away from Falcons Black – the second quarter score line being 18-7 in Thoroughbred’s favour. Falcons Black players were clearly down from their second quarter performance but they never gave up and after the half time break pushed to close the gap in the score line. Some accurate shooting from both Charlotte Roye and Christie Simpson enabled Falcons Black to stay in touching distance of Thoroughbreds. The last quarter gave an opportunity for another youngster to take to the court as Jess Smith replaced Eleanor Durcan at centre. Unfortunately for Falcons Black, experience ultimately prevailed and the away team pulled away again to increase the score line, despite a valiant effort from the ladies on the court. The final whistle saw Thoroughbreds run out winners at 61-43. Starting lineup: GS Charlotte Roye GA Christie Simpson WA Eleanor Durcan C Katie Flaherty WD Kaylea McQuade GD Issy Beighton GK Jade Forbes-Wattley Subs: Helen Hancock, Jess Smith, Sofija Djukic
The final score showing how much Iceni dominated Lincoln City 2. Iceni 65 - 26 Lincoln City 2. Iceni's Player of the match was awarded to Rachel Burton-Allaway.
This week's Iceni's Player of the match sponsor was 3D Windows – 07715 444770 – www.3dwindowsltd.co.uk
At times there were some excellent moves down court and things seemed to gel well together, but we were unable to deliver this consistently. Pennine has four new members in the regional squad this season who all performed well, but at the moment the squad are still getting used to each other and availability problems at this time of the season means that opportunities to do this have been limited. However, we certainly have a good foundation to build on as the season progresses.
Division 2
Grasshopper’s opening game against Nottingham Knights proves to be an eye-opener Grasshopper Netball Club’s opening match of the East Midlands Regional Division 2 League ended in defeat against last year’s winners Nottingham Knights. Grasshopper rightfully earned their place in the league, after coming third in the Regional Netball Tournament held in the summer. But this game was possibly the toughest of encounters at Loughborough University’s Netball centre with the final score being: Nottingham Knights 52-32 Grasshopper. Grasshopper got off to a promising start, converting from each of their Centre passes. However, the latter part of the quarter saw them struggle, as they frequently lost possession under pressure from the opposition who pulled away with a 9-goal lead. The second quarter saw Grasshopper players apply more pressure, as they fought hard to prevent the league winners from converting their first centre pass. Some perfectly timed interceptions took place but despite their efforts, exceptional space awareness from Nottingham Knight’s attacking players saw them win the quarter 29-16. Nottingham Knights continued to dominate in the third quarter with Grasshoppers trailing 40-21 at the end of the quarter. However, the final quarter was the most tightly contested, as Grasshoppers fought hard to close the gap on the leaders. Indeed, this proved to be Grasshopper’s highest scoring quarter. Rising young talent, Beth Smith, won Player of the Match, after an impressive display as Goal Shooter. Smith’s accurate and consistent shooting played a major role in ensuring that Grasshoppers stayed in contention throughout the game. Despite the loss, Grasshopper team captain Donna Osborn spoke highly of the team’s performance. She said, “It was a fantastic team effort from players both on and off the court. There was an abundance of positive play that we will take back to training to work on and improve”. Grasshopper Netball Club has the Silver CAPS award and for further details, please visit: http://www.grasshoppernetballclub.co.uk
Division 1
Hinckley Hurricanes' Regional season started with a bang this morning with the first game against Loughborough-based rivals TFC. The fixture always promises to be a close encounter and today was much the same story. Both teams started the match a little tentatively and it was clear from the start that it was to be both a defensive and possession-based game. The teams could not be separated at quarter time, with the scores at 8 - 8. It was the second quarter however that TFC managed to ease a lead and despite drawing the third quarter and winning the fourth, Hurricanes could not claw back the lead that TFC did well to protect. Final score 30 - 38. Despite the loss, many positives could be taken from the match with first appearances for Hurricanes players Gemma Jephcote and Amy Salisbury. Charlotte Taylor, a Hurricanes stalwart, was voted player of the match by the Hurricanes. Charlotte played both Wing Defence and Centre positions and continued to put players under pressure throughout the whole match. The next match sees us face Lincoln City next Sunday in the Sir David Wallace Centre at Loughborough University at 9.30am - another game that promises to deliver a nail-biting finish as Hurricanes narrowly won their final, toughly-fought encounter towards the end of last season. Division 2
The game started off as one-for-one on goals, but as the end of the first quarter drew nearer, Knights had turned over several passes in the defending circle to lead 14-6. Knights never looked back and continued to dominate each quarter, extending their lead each time. The final score being 52-32. Knights’ newbie goalkeeper, Zoie Aiken, was awarded player of the match for her quick adaption to this level of netball and the numerous interceptions she made, which helped Knights win so comfortably. Nottingham Knights continue their season in the Regional League Division 2 on Sunday 23rd September against Sleaford Barge at Loughborough University (first centre pass at 09.30). If previous years are anything to go by, this match is guaranteed to be a good "battle!" Division 1
Leapoole narrowly lost its latest East Midlands Regional Division 1 game against Nottingham City on 16/9/12. After narrowly beating Nottingham City twice last season, this was always going to be a closely contested game with City keen to avenge the double loss. They started the better side, capitalising on some nervous play from Leapoole to lead 8-4 after the first quarter. The next two quarters Leapoole showed greater improvement and better passing and movement and a tight defence could be seen. This resulted in Nottingham City being only marginally ahead after the next two quarters (17-15 after the second quarter and 24-22 after the third quarter). It was therefore all to play for in the final quarter. Leapoole's defence held their nerve well in the circle to bring the goal difference down to just one in the final minute of the game and some great play by Kate Fairhurst was integral to this late surge. Unfortunately, it was not enough to hold on and City came out on top to secure a low scoring 30-29 victory. Kate was voted Player of t he match for her fine display at Goal Keeper. You can follow Leapoole Netball Club at http://leapoolenetballclub.weebly.com or contact us on Facebook. |
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