Narrow Victory for Newly Promoted Imps in East Midlands Netball Regional League Division 1

After an eight goal defeat to Charnwood last week, Lincoln City 1 were expecting a tough match. Abby Johnson returned to the court at WA as the Imps took on Hinckley Hurricanes on Sunday 5th October.

The Imps started well with excellent shooting from both Rebecca Baker at GS and Jade Houlton, in her new role of GA. The defensive duo of Lizzie Saywell at GK and Lucy Heathershaw as GD turned over numerous loose balls, allowing Lincoln to counter attack and take the first quarter 15-8.

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Hinckley made some tactical changes in the second quarter which made Lincoln work hard to keep possession of the ball. However Imps’ Beth Richardson brought the ball down the court well and had some great feeds into Baker. Hinckley took the quarter though, reducing the deficit by two goals; Lincoln led 28-23 at half time.

The fresh legs of Megan Samways and Jenny Leach, playing WA and C respectively, made a massive impact in the third quarter. Meanwhile Richardson was moved to GK with her long arms and high jump to deter any high balls into Hinckley's GS, whilst Saywell moved to WD to strengthen a tall defensive network. Hinckley were slowly clawing back the game during this period, once again winning the quarter by two, but Lincoln were still leading 38-35 going into the final fifteen minutes.

It was a nail biting finish to the game. Newly promoted Lincoln were fighting hard but were heavily contested for the ball. At one point Hinckley drew level but the Imps kept composed and produced some excellent feeds into Baker. Lincoln fought hard as a team, defending throughout the court, to take the narrowest of victories at 47-46.

The game was essentially won by Imps during the first quarter and Jade Houlton was voted best player by the team after her transition from defence to attack.