Netball teams back in action

THE NETBALL leagues have started up with wins for Kinetics and Kiwis in division one, Wastside in the second division and Lerwick Juniors and Ness in division three.

Division One

Kinetics 40, Loungers 26

Kinetics took an early lead through accurate passing and good team work. Loungers defended well but found it difficult to breakdown Kinetics shooting duo of Sarah Grogan and Kirsti Leask. The first quarter ended in Kinetics favour 13-6.

As the second quarter started Loungers began to fight back, Vicki Henderson being a key player in the mid-court, linking well with the attack and making some good interceptions. Loungers shooters settled in the game, however Emma Gray and Louise Kelly of Kinetics were making things hard for them.

Kinetics’ early lead proved difficult for Loungers to pull back although they were playing some fine netball. A few unnecessary mistakes in the third quarter were made and Kinetics took advantage of these, converting them into goals, and the third quarter ended 29-19.

Both teams continued to fight hard in the final quarter, all playing well together, but Kinetics ran away in the end to secure a comfortable win.

Player of the match for Kinetics was Emma Gray with the Loungers player of the match award going to Claire Young.

Whalsay 29, Kiwis 42

No report was submitted.

Division Two

Wastside 42, Unst 30

This being their first match of the season, both teams took a little while to find their feet. The players were frantic and full of energy, making the game a good one. It wasn’t long, however, until the teams were back on form playing good netball.

In the first quarter both teams showed good effort in play. Wastside were a little scrappy to start with, not playing to their flow, resulting in a close score, only being just ahead of Unst by two goals.

In the second quarter Wastside motivated themselves to stronger play and were managing to now play well as a team. Unst had good accuracy on goals from GS Claire Priest and GA Alana Johnson. Wastside replied immediately to lead by 10 goals on the whistle – contributed by shooters Catherine Henry and Mhari Moncrieff.

Wastside continued to stretch their lead to s17 goals ahead in the third quarter. Unst, however, put plenty of pressure and WD Linda Thomson and WA Karen Priest, who have both returned back to Unst, were both a welcoming addition to their team. Linda defended well, making it hard for the Wastside attackers, while Karen’s attacking play and passes linked well with her teammates.

In the final quarter Lisa Johnston came on for Aimee Keith at centre. Wastside made some minor errors and Unst were quick to gain advantage. That resulted in Unst scoring more goals than Wastside, but not enough to beat them at the end of play.

Division Three

Burra 27, Lerwick Juniors 38

Lerwick Juniors quickly took possession of the ball and settled easily into their game. GS Sadie Tait and GA Caitlin Watt played well together in the circle, ensuring an early lead of 9-4 to Lerwick Juniors at the end of the first quarter.

Burra settled into their game in the second quarter, with GS Ingrid Divine on top form with impressive shooting. They worked hard to try and catch Lerwick Juniors’ early lead but the first half ended 22-13 to the youngsters.

There were changes made to both teams in the second half which proved to work better for Burra. However, they were unable to catch the Juniors who worked hard to ensure their win.

Players of the match were Ingrid Devine for Burra and Sadie Tait for Lerwick Juniors.

Ness 26, Scallywags 14

This was the first game for new team Scallywags which began with plenty of fast and accurate passing, both teams fighting to take control early on. Consistent shooting from the Ness GS and GA secured a 10-5 lead by the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was fairly evenly-matched with good end-to-end play and accurate shooting by both teams. At half time the score stood at 15-10 to Ness.

Both teams made changes to their line-up during the break and settled back into the game. Solid attacking play allowed Ness to increase the lead to 20-12. The final quarter was fairly even again with Scallywags linking up well in centre court and feeding some good balls into their attacking circle. Ness kept up the pressure and took advantage of every ball, resulting in a 26-14 win for the first game of the new league.

Players of the match were Shona Bairnson for Ness and Cindy Pottinger for Scallywags.