Leeds battle thro' to bruising win in the Fiat Netball Superleague
Two points for Leeds Carnegie but a sour taste for all concerned after the clash with Glasgow Wildcats in Round 13 of the FIAT Netball Superleague. It was a bad tempered spiteful game that did little to win over fans to the sport and will benefit from a post-match post- mortem.
There were heated exchanged from the start in an evenly matched contest. Errors on both sides cancelled themselves out and at the end of a dissatisfying 15 minutes.
The mood darkened in the second quarter when Fran Marshall broke her ankle in what looked like an accidental collision following a 50-50 contest for a ball with Wildcats captain Claire Brownie. Brownie was warned about late contact on at least one occasion in the match.
With Marshall stretchered off to hospital co-coach Anna Carter was hopping up and down with frustration, feeling that their opponents had forgotten that netball is supposed to be non-contact sport.
But Carnegie were most unhappy with the two whisle-blowers, and voiced a question many have asked, if an international umpire is at a Superleague match (in this case Gary Burgess) why are they sidelined as a reserve and not able to interact with their colleagues.
“We feel the umpires lost control of the game,” said co-coach Ferneyhough. “ We were worried about our players’ safety.
“The game was physical but it turned malicious when the persistent infringements were not penalised.”
Wildcats coach Denise Holland disagreed: “If anything it was the behaviour of the Leeds coach (Anna Carter) that was out of control. She was coaching from the sideline and intimidating the umpire. I thought she was totally emotionally out of control and as a result her players lost it on court. It was unprofessional.
“I thought the umpires were consistent and allowed players contest the ball and they allowed the game to flow. I was pleased with my team’s performance as there was a lot at stake today.
“The Wildcats fought hard for the entire match showing resilience, skill and determination. I’m proud of their work rate and their continuous progress week on week.”
But back to the game which continued to be neck and neck. 11-11 after 15 minutes, 22-22 after half an hour. The third quarter, historically a poor one for Carnegie saw the home side dig deep and they took the lead by seven goals. They took the last quarter by one goal 13-12 to win 52-44.
There’s no doubt that for one reason or another the teams were increasingly fired up as the game went on. Denise Holland feels sparks are bound to fly when you have truly competitive players and she was fully supportive of her captain Claire Brownie. “Claire is a really tenacious player and always eager to win. She went in late once and was warned and she pulled back and played conservatively after that.” Lisa Ferneyhough was pleased about the way her team came out in the second half. “We gained composure, took control and kept calm amid the rising levels of physicality. I’m really pleased that the error rate was much better we were looking after the ball much better.”
So what about the claims that the umpires lost control of the game? Well that’s probably one for match assessor/mentor Heather Gleadall to take out. As for the physical contest on court, we’re all interested in healthy hot competition but not all out war.
