GRASSHOPPERS HIT HARD BY HINCHCLIFFE HYDRAULICS

Hinchcliffe won first centre pass, but Grasshoppers Netball Club (GNC) turned it over and took an early lead. However, due to a couple of errors by Grasshoppers, Hinchcliffe caught up and overtook them; they then maintained their lead in the first quarter. The score was 10-15 after the first 15 minutes.

The second quarter was very closely contested by both teams, but despite some solid defending, Grasshoppers could not catch up and trailed 21-28 at half time.

Coach Anne Melling then made some changes in the centre court, bringing on Lois Taylor at WA, moving Carly Varney to C and moving Kara Kataiwai to WD. However, again – in spite of a very determined and spirited performance by all, further errors by GNC meant they could not catch Hinchcliffe – whose GS converted almost every shot. By the end of the third quarter, Grasshoppers trailed 33-43.
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Further changes were made in the final quarter: Katie Long replaced Donna Osborn as GA, Hannah Wale came back on as C and Carly Varney replaced Kara Kataiwai as WD. Stacie Racz - as GS - put in a sterling performance for Grasshoppers against a very physical Hinchcliffe defence and Katie Long combined well with her to put some pressure on Hinchcliffe. The Grasshopper defence also continued to show grit and determination, with Sadie Burch – GD – being nominated as the Player of the Match. It was another excellent fight back from Grasshoppers but they just lost the final quarter 14-15 – the narrowest margin of the whole game – therefore losing the overall game 47-58.