Fantastic start sees Club to victory!

This was a chance to field a different line up and test different combinations. However, although Epic were currently bottom of the division Club could not under estimate the wiley ways of this experienced team!

Sharp shooter Paige Money started in as GK (apparently a position that she loves – who knew!) with Sadie Burch out at GD, Grace Thomas WD, Debbie Greenslade C, Emma Hall WA, Eliz Ansell GA and Jemma Fruin GS. The first quarter was a dream start for Club and the new formation found it simple to get the ball into the shooters who found it easy to find the net. Jemma seemed incapable of missing a shot from all areas of the circle and if she did miss, the long arms of Elize were there to tidy things up on the rebound and make the shot. It was all long legs and long arms in the shooting circle for Club and these shooters can jump too, with no ball too high for this shooting duo! Defensively Club seemed to be hunting down balls all over the court, restricting space and turning over ball after ball. It should probably be mentioned that, taking nothing away from this fine display by the team, Epic were one player short! However Club had to, and did take advantage of this and smashed the first quarter 19-5.

Over confidence may have set in after an impressive lead which very quickly came round to haunt Club. Epic managed to find their seventh player and on watching the 2nd quarter it almost appeared as if Epic had 8 players on court. Club’s complacency led to sloppy passing and poor defending in mid court. Luckily Paige and Sadie held firm in defence and restricted the goals, unfortunately Epic’s defence did a better job at restricting Club's goals. With Epic at full strength the game evened out and they were able to restrict the ease Club had in the first quarter feeding into the circle. As a result, the shooters were having to work harder and the shooting suffered. Emma continued to deliver beautiful feeds into the circle but had to up the work rate and her movement around the circle edge was nifty to say the least. However, Club made too many unforced errors which saw Epic grow in confidence and force an 11-11 draw for the quarter, with the half time score standing at 30-16.

Coach Sonia Grant was fuming on the sideline with the overall performance, and made some immediate changes. Jemma and Elise switched positions, Kirsty Hall came on at WA, Grace moved to C with Shannon Murray on at WD. It took a while for Club to settle into the new formation, however Shannon was straight out of the blocks, making an immediate impact on the game. In the centre court, Grace and Kirsty probably ran a marathon, keeping the ball moving and applying pressure on passes.

Paige had a very strong game at GK, claiming the circle as hers and making cheeky interceptions both inside and outside. It was as if she thought “if I’m not shooting then no one can”! However, although a handful of her interceptions were not clean, she was extremely unlucky on a number of calls, and the crowd were outraged when she made another clean and stunning interception and the umpire pulled her for contact! Unfortunately for Epic they neglected to realise that Sadie who is currently holding the title for Princess of Interceptions is in training for Queen status and was out to prove she was a contender for the crown! As much as the back court defence wowed, it would have been preferable if the ball wasn’t getting near the defence circle! The shots down at Club's attacking end just wouldn’t sit, rebounding wasn’t happening and the front court were giving away too many penalties. This was a bad quarter for Club, losing it by 8-10 to leave the score at 38-26 going into the final period.

The last break saw some final changes and a verbal rap on the knuckles from Sonia! In search of more goals Paige was moved to GS, with the coach realising too late that she’s only put Paige back down the same end with the Umpire who felt she persistently fouled. This didn't seem to faze her thgought and it is good character building for players to find a way to change their game to prevent them feeling victimised!

The other changes saw Sadie drop back into GK, Elize to GD, Shannon to C, and Emma WD. Initially the team struggled to adapt, but they persevered none the less in an effort to maintain the lead and prevent Epic from getting within 10 goals. Epic may be bottom of the league but they certainly weren’t going down without a fight. The final whistle didn’t come a moment too soon and Club came away with a 10-9 win for the last quarter and a final score of 48-35. Had it not been for a fantastic first quarter Club would have lost the game!

Lessons learnt and Club definitely need to start every quarter ‘all guns blazing’ in the future because the team would be unstoppable if they did! Believe!

Match report from Sonia Grant