Round 9 Match Reports
Game 1: Glasgow Wildcats v Northern Thunder
Saturday 22nd December 2008, 2pm.
Bellahouston LC, Glasgow
UMPIRES:
Q1: 6-18
Q2: 17-31
Q3: 23-45
Q4: 38-58
Glasgow Wildcats have gone down to Northern Thunder in Glasgow 38-58.
It was a self admitting ‘slow-start’ by Glasgow Wildcats to attempt to take advantage of the home game and challenge Northern Thunder, who are placed just above them on the Superleague ladder, to a win. Northern Thunder raced ahead in the first quarter to be in front by 12 goals at the first break.
Northern Thunder were in fine form in spite of missing 3 of their top performers this week in Charlotte Beenham (injured), Kate Smith (injured) and Emma Dovey (holiday). Included into the side in their absence was 17 year old Alexa Collier who started at GA and 16 year old Krista Enziano who entered the game in the final quarter.
Glasgow Wildcats had a better 2nd quarter, going down by just 2 goals, 17-31 at half time. The margin again blew out in the third quarter, Northern Thunder continuing to out-class the home side.
In the last quarter Glasgow Wildcats Captain Leslie McDonald went down with a calf injury and was forced to leave the game. To Glasgow’s credit they managed to win this final quarter and walked away from the game taking positives from this final 15 minutes of play. At full time Northern Thunder were ahead 38-58.
Coach of Glasgow Wildcats Denise Holland said after the match: ‘We were really pleased with our full court defence. Yet again we forced a well structured side with many errors. Improvements were made also through the mid court in attack delivering the ball safely to the circle edge. We will take everything we have learned to date into the second half of the season and continue to contest in more and more quarters.’
Assistant Coach of Northern Thunder was also pleased with her side in light of the forced new combinations with the new clientele in her squad. She gave accolades to her team and said ‘without our injured players we had to try different combinations. The new combination worked well and Karen Greig was very strong at GS.
Team Line-Ups:
Glasgow Wildcats:
GS: Sharyn Lyon
GA: Lesley McDonald
WA: Jenna Storie
C: Fiona Moore
WD: Claire Brownie
GD: Claire Cooper
GK: Hayley Mulheron
Shooting Stats:
S. Lyon: 6/6, 100%
L. McDonald: 26/38%
R. Holmes: 5/7, 71%
N. Collins: ¼, 25%
Overall: 69%
Northern Thunder:
GS: Karen Greig
GA: Alexa Collier
WA: Rachel Henry
C: Helen Brown
WD: Bev Lovatt
GD: Sarah Carter
GK: Kerry Almond
Shooting Stats:
K. Greig: 33/38, 87%
A. Collier: 10/15, 66%
K. Enziano: 8/11, 72%
Game 2: Team Northumbria v Celtic Dragons
Saturday 20th December 2008, 2.30pm
Gateshed Leisure Centre, Newcastle
UMPIRES: D. Morgan / C. Wilson-Smith
Q1: 10-3
Q2: 24-9
Q3: 33-14
Q4: 51-21
Team Northumbria continued on their ‘merry’ pathway towards the top half of The Co-operative Netball Superleague ladder as they hurdled over the Celtic Dragons, 51-21 in Newcastle.
The game was riddled with errors from both sides in an overall sense of the game. Although Celtic Dragons started well they lost jest and dropped in spirit by the second quarter. At the end of the first quarter Team Northumbria were in front 10-3, despite the equal possession shared by the two sides during this initial 15 minutes of the game.
The second quarter continued with errors from both teams, Team Northumbria were able to capitalize and squander any lost possession given by Celtic Dragons and built on a lead to be ahead 24-9 at half time. Celtic Dragons actually started really well to lead the quarter by 5 goals, however lost momentum when they let Team Northumbria back in to score 8 unanswered goals.
Sue Gaudion re-shuffled her team at half time in an attempt to find success with her squad, and this was not a bad move as her team re-adjusted to find the circle edge feeding into Celtic Dragon's shooters. GS and Team Northumbria Captain Carla Dziwoki devastated Celtic Dragons hopes as she continued to slam shots through the net all game. 33-14 at three-quarter time to Team Northumbria.
Celtic Dragons were left in a cross-roads at full time, 51-21, and were happy to learn and grow from their first half of the season. Sue Gaudion said at full time, ‘There are definitely positives from our game tonight, created plenty of turnover and opportunity throughout the match. The key to going forward to the second half of the season will be from taking from the positives and growing and building on them.’
Coach of Team Northumbria Denise Egan was happy with an injection of confidence into her side tonight and said ‘A good win where our players put into action key strategies we had trained hard to implement in all units. Good performances by Burgess and great support by Phillips at GA with Carla Dziwoki who scored 100% in 3 out of 4 quarters. A great way to spend the Christmas break with a real confidence booster today.’
Captain of Team Northumbria Carla Dziwoki said after the match ‘A good solid performance and a real team effort. We played our style and managed to play our game and in control for the best part of the game.’
Team Line-Ups:
Team Northumbria:
GS: Emma Lower
GA: Carla Dziwoki
WA: Vicky Burgess
C: Marie Ewing
WD: Tessa Burton
GD: Natalie Connor
GK: Abi Ryan
Shooting Stats:
E. Lower: 2/3, 66%
C. Dziwoki: 90%
V. Phillips: 8/14, 57%
Celtic Dragons:
GS: Carlie Ennis
GA: Cara Lea Moseley
WA: Amanda Trounce
C: Sarah Leach
WD: Stephanie Essex
GD: Stephanie Williams
GK: Sara Hale
Shooting Stats:
C. Ennis: 8/17, 47%
L. Keable: 2/6, 33%
C. Lee Moseley: 11/26, 42%
Game 3 Brunel Hurricanes v Loughborough Lightning
Sunday 21st December 2008, 5pm
Guildford Spectrum
UMPIRES: Margaret Deighan / Dawn Heron
Q1: 8-12
Q2: 17-20
Q3: 26-33
Q4: 34-43
Loughborough Lightning have come away with a win against a strong Brunel Hurricanes outfit in Guilford. It was an impressive result by Loughborough in light of 3 unavailable players due to illness and injury.
Loughborough Lightning Captain and Coach Olivia Murphy was ill and bed-ridden and left to barrack for her team at home whilst Becky Gentle and Alex Kirk are out with injuries.
The game began high in standard from the first whistle, and both sides contested well with the score going goal for goal. It wasn’t until the last 2 minutes of the quarter that Loughborough Lightning were able to take the advantage and creep to a 4 goal lead in the first break 8-12.
It wasn’t the start Brunel Hurricanes would have hoped for as Brunel found themselves running on the back foot behind all game. In the second quarter a 3 goal deficit was unable to be reversed with both teams not yielding the win. Half time score 17-20.
Anyone would presume part of a game plan against Brunel would be to keep the danger of talented defender Sonia Mkoloma at bay in their backline and disrupt a clever and short sharp attacking play led by Asha Tett into shooters Vicklyn Joseph and Lindsay Press, and it seemed that is exactly what happened in the third 15 minutes of the match.
Loughborough Lightning were able to use patience around their shooting circle with WA Natasha Hampshire impressive by making use of double plays around the circle edge. GK Hannah Reid led the way with GD Emma Bliss to shut down Brunel Hurricanes options in attack and creating the turnover Loughborough needed to build a lead and shake Brunel away. At 3-quarter time Loughborough Lightning were ahead by 7 goals, 26-33.
At 3-quarter time, the Brunel Hurricanes Coach decided to mix up her attack looking to keep Loughborough guessing. Asha Tett was moved into the shooting circle at GA and Vicklyn Joseph left the court. The move could not dismantle Loughborough who played on their guard knowing of Brunel capabilities. Loughborough Lightning won the match by 9 goals, 34-43.
Loughborough Lightning were pleased with an all-round team performance tonight. Coach Colette Thomson said ‘We were pleased with our consistency and worked hard. We showed good patient play, had a well disciplined attitude and stuck to the game plan.’
Loughborough Lightning GK Hannah Reid said ‘It’s good to go into the short Christmas break with a win, and pleasing that training practices were put into match play.’
Strong in the Brunel Hurricanes Mid-court was Captain Becky Nash. Nash commented after the match, ‘I’m disappointed, however looking forward to a nice break and looking to return working hard in 2009. We’ll be back with a bang.’
Natalie Swift, Coach of Brunel Hurricanes said ‘It’s disappointing not to get a win but we had a great start to our season. The girls deserve a rest over Christmas and we plan to improve on our strengths in 2009.’
Team Line Ups:
Brunel Hurricanes:
GS: Vicklyn Joseph
GA: Lindsay Press
WA:Asha Tett
C: Becky Nash
WD:Jaime Galley
GD: Polini Langi
GK: Sonia Mkoloma
Shooting Stats:
V. Joseph: 10/17, 59%
L. Press: 17/21, 81%
A. Tett: 7/12, 58%
Overall Team: 34/50, 68%
Loughborough Lightning:
GS: Becky James
GA: Jo Harten
WA: Natasha Hampshire
C: Jade Clarke
WD: Kara Luck
GD: Emma Bliss
GK: Hannah Reid
Shooting Sats:
B. James: 19/26, 73%
J. Harten: 24/32, 75%
Team Overall: 74%
