Sleaford won the toss and took the first centre pass - converting immediately. For a while, it was goal for goal, but then Grasshoppers, having found their rhythm, had an inspired period of play, with some good shooting from Donna Osborn (GA) and Andy Flewitt (GS). This allowed Grasshoppers to lead 11-9 at the end of the first quarter. Sleaford seemed out of sorts.
The second quarter did not continue in the same vein for Grasshoppers, as Sleaford Barge settled into their rhythm and seemed to 'up the ante'. Despite some good play by the Grasshoppers defence - Tracy Glover (GK) and Megs Palmer (GD) - Sleaford converted goal after goal and won this quarter 6-15. It was a similar story in the third quarter, but the Grasshoppers defence contained the Sleaford Barge shooters a little more. In fact, it was a good standard of netball from all players on court but Sleaford Barge edged the quarter 6-11. The final quarter flowed back Grasshoppers' way. They converted goal after goal and were doggedly determined in defence all up the court. Sleaford Barge had once more lost their rhythm - and also their GD to injury - and it looked as if Grasshoppers would catch them up. However, Sleaford Barge's shooters began to convert again, which meant that Grasshoppers just failed to gain an extra point by not coming within 4 goals of the final score (Grasshoppers 34-40 Sleaford Barge). A very well contested game by both sides and congratulations to Grasshoppers’ GA – Donna Osborn – who earned the Player of the Match award. Starting 7 GK – Issy Beighton GD – Iman Thomas WD – Kathryn Binks C – Katie Flahery (vice captain) WA – Jemma King GA – Olivia Mason (Captain) GS – Helen Hancock Sub – Adelaide Muskwe Coach – Donna Swann and Dominque Mckwe Primary Carer – Donna Swann and Zoe. Thank you to Georgina and Michelle for scoring/timekeeping. Player of the match: Katie Flaherty Both Falcons and Linden made an impressive start to the game, holding their own centre passes. However, Falcons then lost a few balls due to misplaced passes and unforced errors, which Linden capitalised on to open up a good lead on the Loughborough-based team. Despite this setback, Falcons’ attack still managed to get free at centre passes, feeding Liv Mason and Helen Hancock well in the shooting circle. The quarter finished 7-10 to Linden.
Falcons, who made no changes at the break, came out determined to apply heavy pressure on Linden’s attack. This enabled Falcons to make lots of tips and interceptions. Meanwhile, the team showed great patience in the through court play with some brilliant feeds from Katie and Jemma to the shooters, which allowed Falcons to take the quarter 9-4 for an overall score of Falcons 16-14 Linden. Once again, Falcons made no changes. Both teams started well by holding their own centre passes, despite heavy defence applied by the opposing team. This heavy defence soon caused both teams to make unforced errors. Fortunately for Falcons, Issy stepped up and started to get rebounds, tips and interceptions, whilst Kathryn was doing an impressive job at WA forcing her opponent’s balls high and wide, which limited Linden’s options. Linden fought hard during the quarter though and converted a couple of Falcons’ unforced errors, which brought the overall scores level going into the final period (24-24). Both teams went goal for goal during the last fifteen minutes but Falcons eventually won it with a long range shot from Liv Mason. The overall score was Falcons 32-31 Linden. Lincoln City 1 were missing super shooter Becky Baker as they took on last season’s number 1 team in the East Midlands Netball Regional League Division 1. Jade Houlton moved to GS with Katherine Sturton filling the GA position and Jenny Leach took the C bib in her last game for the club. The first quarter didn’t go to plan for Lincoln though as Aces’ strong defence turned over numerous balls, which resulted in them taking the first quarter 12-9.
The second quarter was Lincoln's strongest quarter. Once again the defence of Lizzie Saywell, Lucy Heathershaw and Vic Adams were excellent at bringing the ball down the court, whilst Abby Johnson and Leach worked hard to feed into attack, allowing the Imps to take an overall lead of 19-18 into half time. Lincoln’s Leach moved to WA for the second half whilst Beth Richardson came off the bench (the others players retained their positions from the first half). Richardson’s appearance was impactful – she applied great pressure on the passes and turned over the ball numerous times, allowing Lincoln to win the quarter by three and be 31-27 up overall. Johnson returned to the court for the final quarter and the Imps continued with their impressive game so far. They were leading by six goals with five minutes to go but unfortunately the inexperienced partnership of Houlton and Sturton led to some miscommunication, which allowed the Aces to take control of the match. Aces’ defence was also excellent and they overturned numerous balls to end the match with a draw: 37-37. Lincoln City’s impressive start to the season sees them presently sitting second in a league that could easily go down to the wire. Lizzie Saywell was deservedly awarded best player by both teams for her numerous interceptions and rebounds throughout the match. Her solid performance helped Lincoln to achieve a draw against a top side. Leicester's Grasshoppers began the first quarter strongly, matching Lincolnshire’s Brigg goal for goal and demonstrating some fast, fluid movement up the court. Unfortunately, however, a couple of turnovers by Brigg resulted in them coming out in front 13-10 by the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was just as closely contested at the start, but as the quarter wore on, Brigg began to pull away through some very consistent shooting and some very strong defensive play by their GD. By the end of the second quarter, they led 27-18. At half time, both sides made some changes to their line-up. However, even with fresh legs on court, Grasshopper’s defence struggled to contain Brigg’s shooters and they took a strong lead, winning the quarter 19-7, making the overall score 46-25. In the final quarter, Brigg continued their shooting onslaught and unfortunately, Grasshoppers suffered an injury to GK and so had to substitute once more. By now, Grasshoppers’ aim was to secure half points by scoring at least half of Brigg’s total but the Leicestershire team ultimately missed out on this by one goal. Final score 64-31 in Brigg’s favour. It was a disappointing result for the Grasshoppers team who had put in lots of hard work and given plenty of encouragement. Grasshopper NC's Player of the Match was awarded to Laura Harbour at WD.
Lincoln City 1 turned around a three goal deficit in the first quarter to take the victory against Nottingham Knights in their latest East Midlands Netball Regional League Division 1 game (Sunday 12th October). Jenny Leach earned her first start for the Imps in what was to be their second win of the season.
It took a while for Lincoln to find their feet, but with excellent defending from Lizzie Saywell and Lucy Heathershaw, the goals started to flow. Lincoln ended the first quarter one goal behind; 10-11. The team remained the same for the second quarter. Jade Houlton excelled at receiving centre passes and Baker continued to convert. The Imps made numerous tips and interceptions down the court, applying pressure on every pass to force Knights to make errors. Meanwhile Vic Adams and Beth Richardson worked hard to get the ball out of defence, but by half time Nottingham Knights had levelled the scores (22-22). Leach moved to centre in the third quarter with fresh-legged Abby Johnson making an appearance as WA. Johnson created some excellent feeds into Baker as Lincoln won the quarter again; leading the match 37-35. The final quarter saw Richardson move to GD, with Katherine Sturton on at centre (C). Sturton fought hard against her opponent to overturn possession and provided some excellent feeds into Baker. In the end Lincoln were able to extend their lead to a comfortable 48-42 victory. Vic Adams was awarded best player by Lincoln for her numerous tips and interceptions as well as continuous support down the court.
Grasshoppers almost had to cancel this match due to lack of players, but after hard work by club officials - they managed to field a squad of 8. Tracy Glover moved from defence to attack, shooting with Donna Osborn at GA whilst the centre position was efficiently executed by Clare Fielding in the first half and Hannah Wale in the second half. Ripley's young, athletic team stormed out of the blocks in the first quarter and romped to a 12-9 lead.
Neither team made changes moving into the second quarter and it went goal for goal. However, Grasshoppers made a superb defensive turnover, which resulted in them eventually winning the quarter 9-8. |
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