2nd team unable to get their noses in front

This was always going to be a tough game with Hornets 1 above us in the table. The starting 7 were Paige Money GS, Nichola Morrison GA, Debbie Greenslade WA, Lily Whitehead C, Shannon Murray WD, Elize Ansell at GD and Sadie Burch at GK. The first quarter started well with the whole team trying hard for each other. Nic and Paige fought really well against strong physical defenders and were putting up shots when they had the chance. The ball was brought through the Court well by Elize, Shannon and Lily. Debbie made strong drives to the circle to offer time and time again. However, Hornets were up 4 at the end of the first quarter, leading 11-7.

During the second quarter the team settled more with Elize and Sadie working well together in the circle, getting rebounds and interceptions. Elize made some huge drives up the Court to help bring the ball up Court, linking well with Shannon. The whole team used their speed and strength to end the quarter level at 20-20 going into half time.

The team remained unchanged and everyone continued to battle through this quarter, chasing down every loose ball and marking tightly. Lily and Debbie showed they are becoming used to playing together and worked well together around the circle to feed the shooters. Paige and Nic continued to use their footwork and strength in the circle to find space against tricky defenders and consistently shot well. Shannon was always offering and finding space to help when marking was tight to make sure the ball kept moving through the court.

The quarter ended with club down by one at 29 – 30 with everything to play for. The last quarter saw a couple of changes, bringing Lois Marks on as WA and Jessica Saville as WD. Lois and Jess slotted into the game straight away, with Jess tightly marking and Lois driving to make space and feed into the shooters. Sadie and Elize worked really hard, making it as difficult as they could for the Hornets shooters to get the ball up. Both got valuable interceptions while at the other end Paige and Nic continued to get great shots in. Lily, Lois and Jess brought the ball through the Court, working tirelessly. At the end of the game we lost by 3 goals to finish 37 – 40. This was a tough match but the whole team worked well together and are improving every time.

Match report by Lily Whitehead