3rd team show their fighting spirit

With only one win so far in the League, the young and inexperienced 3rd team had been having a tough time in the heights of Division 5. However on Saturday, it really started to come together as the team showed a real hunger out on court, and were rewarded with a win.

In the first quarter, the front court did not get off to a great start, with a number of unforced errors, some wild feeds and lack of re-offers costing the team a number of scoring opportunities. However, Club were kept in the game by the heroics of Rebecca Clayton at GK, who at times appeared to be chanelling assistant coach Leo Bacchus in her heyday, as she tipped, intercepted, hustled and generally shut down the Chislehurst shooting circle in a perfomance way beyond her years. At the end of the first quarter there was just one goal in it, with all to play for.

In the second quarter, Jenny Vanner was introduced at WA for her first game in about 6 months, and her years of experience of playing at the top level immediately shone through, as the front court started to flow. With Pia Hooker now making some very well timed moves along the baseline, Jenny was feeding with pinpoint accuracy, and Pia was duly slotting the goals. Lois Marks at GA and Temi Adewumi at C were providing the speed in attack, and their pace in the final third of the court really began to tell on the Chislehurst defence.

Down in the defence end, Hannah Bartholomew was giving the Chislehurst GA a tough time, with some close man to man marking, and together with Becs was picking up some vaulable turnovers. They were assisted by Elena Salenius at WD, showing great footwork and awareness of the straight line space to bring the ball up from defence to attack smoothly.

In a jaw dropping piece of play that summed up the will to win of the whole team, Becs managed to tip a ball, which Hannah then managed to tip on again, but it was seemingly destined for the hands of a Chislehurst player. Out of nowhere and faster than a speeding bullet, Temi managed to get in front and show amazing skills to hook it back into the centre court. Again a Chislehurst player was there to scoop it up - or so it seemed - but Lois showed lightning quick reactions and came out of nowhere like an exocet missile to retrieve the ball for Club. This astounding piece of play was duly rewarded by a goal, and on the back of this and some other great turnovers, Club had built a slender lead by the next interval.

At half time, Jenny moved across to GA, and Lois moved back to GS, with Lily Whitehead reintroduced at WA. Lily settled down staright away and combined well with Jenny, providing some beautiful feeding. Temi had been having a well matched battle with the Chislehurst C, but in this quarter they made a change and the new player simply did not have the pace to match Temi as she sped through the centre court and dominated on the circle edge. With Lois showing super variety in her movements in the circle and popping up under the post over and over again, the goals were flowing for Club, with Jenny in particlar slotting some difficult long shots.

Down in the defence end, coach Pauline Pearson decided to leave the circle defence in place as they continued to dominate in the circle, with both players closing down space and showing great strength in the rebounds. Lola Wheeler came on at WD and her pressure over the feeds began to tell as she forced a number of errors, and Chislegurst struggled to get the ball to the shooters. Club extended their lead by three quarter time, but knew it would take a determined effort to see it through to the end.

Club did not drop their concentration or intensity in the final quarter, and with Becs, Hannah and Lola continuing to inspire the team from the back, the frenetic pace continued unabated. Lily and Temi did not drop their work rate, and Lois and Jenny were making some top moves and showing great empathy for each other in the shooting circle, with both shooting well. With the supporters roaring them on from the sideline, the whole team showed the determination required to see out the game, and deservedly took the win 35-25.