Sleaford Barge Hurricanes Storm to Victory against Pennine

Starting line up
GK – Anne Sharpe
GD – Rosie James
WD – Katie Clarke
C – Shannon Boothright
WA – Emily Watson
GA – Emma Sharpe
GS – Jade Potter
Sub – Charlotte

Sleaford Barge took on Pennine this week in the third round of the East Midlands Netball Regional League Division 2. Despite a slightly depleted team due to the absence of Laura Jesson, Sarah Brinkworth and Sophie Reed, Sleaford were still ready to step up to the mark and take the bull by the horns.

From the initial blow of the whistle, Sleaford’s full court defence smothered Pennine’s centre pass causing a very early turnover and allowing Sleaford to get on the scoreboard first. The next couple of phases of play saw both teams making mistakes and unforced errors and the scores drew level at 2-2. Eventually Sleaford began to create a margin between themselves and Pennine through some controlled netball to finish the quarter 13-7 ahead.

Sleaford knew the game was still at risk as they started the second quarter. However, the team showed great defence throughout the court, aided by some strong communication from Rosie J (GD). Sleaford were turning over the ball in all areas of court and Emma Sharpe in particular was producing some key interceptions off Pennine’s backlines, which quickly materialised into goals for the Sleaford side. The quarter score finished 19-10 to Sleaford, leaving an overall score of 32-17.

Sleaford maintained their fitness levels during the third quarter. The solid defence unit at the back weren’t giving Pennine an inch – Katie Clarke (WD) and Shannon Boothright (C) continued to hustle for loose balls and apply handover pressure to the feeds in the circle. Their efforts allowed GK Anne Sharpe to get her long limbs to the ball and make the crucial deflections and interceptions. However Pennine applied their own defensive tactics and put some excellent pressure on Sleaford’s GS Jade Potter, whom they had identified as posing a constant threat. That didn’t stop Sleaford though as Emma Sharpe (GA) supported beautifully with her drives to post, penetrating the circle. The quarter score finished 17-6 to Sleaford and left the overall score at 49-23.

The final quarter saw one change for Sleaford as Rosie James dropped back into GK and Anne Sharpe to GD. Once again, Sleaford started quickly but fatigue soon kicked in. The team’s passing wasn’t as slick and direct as it had been during the previous quarters but thanks to the efforts of Emily Watson (WA), many stray balls were reigned in. Meanwhile, the cohesion between Shannon B and Emily W and support of Katie C continued to have Pennine’s defence guessing, whilst Jade Potter (GS) continued to slot in the goals! The quarter score finished 15-7 to Sleaford making the score 64-31. Credit was given to Anne Sharpe who had a fantastic match!

---