Leading lights Loungers score easy win
In the top flight, leading lights Loungers beat bottom of the table Challengers by a wide margin, while in division two there were wins for Supernova and Unst. Meanwhile in the third division the highlight was a fantastic close encounter between the two top sides, the Mavericks and Da Hooligans, which ended in a 31-31 draw.
Division one
Challengers 17, Loungers 37
he game started slowly with both teams making mistakes in their passing. Loungers pulled ahead to 7-3 at end of the first quarter.
The second quarter started and Challengers pulled back to being equal, but with passes in to the Challengers shooters being made difficult by the Loungers defence, Challengers lost possession and the half time score was 15-9.
The third quarter was more closely contested, but in the final one Loungers stepped up their game and won with a big lead of 37-17.
AHS v Kinetics
Kinetics were awarded the points as AHS couldn’t field a team.
Division two
McEwans 22, Supernova 36
Both teams started well and very few shots on goal went astray, Supernova just edging the first quarter 8-7.
The second quarter saw good link up play from both teams, with accurate passing making it hard for interceptions to be made. Shooters Liz Haining and Lois Gray for Nova and Krystina Simpson and Alison Williamson for McEwans continued to rack up the goals, with the half time score at 14-14.
In the third quarter good defending from Christina Inkster and Hannah Burgess made it hard for McEwans to get the ball into the circle, enabling Nova to lead by 23-18.
In the final quarter Nova went on to stretch their lead and dominate the game resulting in a good 36-22 win.
Players of the match were Eileen Robertson and Maggie Irvine for McEwans and Lois Gray for Supernova whose shooting was excellent throughout the game.
Lerwick Juniors 18, Unst 41
The game began with fast play and great teamwork from both sides although both teams faced problems with Unst’s Kathleen Johnson coming off due to injury and Lerwick missing valuable players resulting in the multi-talented Louise Jamieson moving from a shooting position to GK. Unst’s shooting duo of Claire Priest and Alana Johnson were often on target which resulted in the score at the end of the first quarter being 11-5.
Both teams came back onto the court for the second quarter very determined, which showed with fast paced passing. Lerwick’s shooters, Caitlin Watt and Sadie Tait, had difficulties moving within the confined space of the circle, however when they received the ball their shooting was accurate. Good strong feeds into the circle from Unst’s centre court players resulted in the score at the end of the second quarter reaching 20-10.
During the third quarter Unst upped their defensive play throughout the court getting important interceptions and ending the quarter 30-14.
Throughout the fourth quarter Unst built up their lead and although Lerwick remained motivated and showed great teamwork throughout the game they couldn’t catch the experienced Unst side.
Players of the match were shooter Claire Priest for Unst and centre court player Sarah Groat for Lerwick Juniors.
Division three
Ness 30, Burra 19
The game began with fast play from both sides. Good passing by Ness combined with accurate shooting resulted in Ness taking the lead. Burra were linking well in the centre third but having trouble getting balls into the circle due to strong defending by Ness, especially Ruth Christie. The first quarter ended 10-5 to Ness.
Both teams came back on and settled well. A sequence of well linked passes straight into the circle allowed Ness GS Rachel Adamson and GA Caroline Wood to shoot on target. Good interceptions by Burra’s GA Heather Henry and accurate shooting by GS Bethany Laurenson prevented the five goal difference from increasing. Finishing the second quarter the score stood at 15-10 to Ness.
Due to Stephanie Adamson’s injury Ness made some changes to their team after half time. Burra continued with determination to defend, with their GK Caroline Tait rebounding well. Ness managed to increase their lead to 22-12.
In the final quarter there was a considerable amount of good end to end play. Both teams worked well together, pushing to take advantage of every ball. A high scoring quarter ended the match 30-19 to Ness.
Players of the match were Rachel Adamson and Caroline Wood for Ness and Heather Henry for Burra.
Mavericks 31, Da Hooligans 31
The game started at a fast and furious pace which did not falter for the whole game. Both teams were equally determined to win with Mavericks hoping to equal Da Hooligans at the top of the division and Da Hooligans determined to continue their unbeaten run.
The scoring started with both teams working hard for every pass and a 1-1 score emerged. Confident play from Hooligans Lara Kay and Valerie Sales increased their lead to 5-2 but Mavericks started to assert themselves and scored the next three to equalise.
Going into the second quarter the score stood at 9-9. Freda Leask linked up well with Chloe Miller in the circle and a very slight but steady lead developed for the Mavericks who had to fight for every pass. Competition was fierce between the two centres Holly Jamieson and Amber Inkster with both vying for every ball. The half time score was 17-15 in Mavericks favour.
During the third quarter Allie Elphinstone came on as WA and worked hard to support the attack. A few errors started to creep in for both teams in this quarter due to the unflagging pace and the heightened tension of the game. For Mavericks Miller started to feel the pressure as Kerry Nicolson managed to intercept more than one lob into the circle. A few misdirected passes from both teams were pounced on quickly and converted to goals for both sides.
The final quarter started 23-21 in Mavericks favour. Hooligans stepped up the pace to a ferocious level and managed to equalise then take the lead with only a few minutes left. Mavericks, however, were not to be outdone at this stage and managed to equalise then score to put them back in the lead. With less than 30 seconds left the final centre of the match was taken by Da Hooligans and the ball passed through their net in the last second of the game to end in a 31-31 draw.
Thanks must go to both umpires who kept a steady and calm influence on what was a nail-bitingly close and tense match. Both teams must also be congratulated in displaying superior athleticism and maturity, excellent sportsmanship as well complete focus and unflagging effort for the whole match. The quality of netball was comparable to that seen in second or even first division and bodes well for the future of netball in Shetland.
Players of the match were Allie Elphinstone for Mavericks and Lara Kay for Da Hooligans.
