Comfortable wins by Loungers and Whalsay in netball top flight
Wins for Loungers and Whalsay secured their mid-table positions in division one of the netball leagues, while there were also victories for leaders Challengers and second-placed Tingwall in the second and third divisions respectively.
Division One
Loungers 34, Unst 17
Unst started strongly, playing a fast and physical game. Loungers took a bit of time to settle into their own pace and the first quarter ended very close: 7-6 to Loungers.
The second quarter saw Loungers determined to play their own game with more accurate passing and more attacking play. Excellent defence from Kristen Johnston and Jennifer Thomson kept the Unst shooters under pressure and by half time Loungers had increased their lead to 17-11.
Unst continued to push the fast pace with some excellent mid- court interceptions and tight marking. Loungers kept their calm and with excellent linking in mid-court from Hazel Uren and Julie Grant, the Loungers shooters had plenty of opportunities despite very keen defensive play from the Unst GD and GK.The score at the end of this quarter was 25-14.
The last quarter was fought just as hard with both teams determined not to let any balls go undisputed. Loungers managed to keep their hold on the game and increase their lead to 34-17 by the final whistle.
AHS 26, Whalsay 42
AHS took to the court with a rearranged starting seven. Sophie Leyland and Inga Woods switched to defence with Louise Birnie and Emma Leask taking the mid-court positions of C and WA. It was a shaky start from the juniors as Whalsay gave them no time to settle into their new roles and pulled away to lead 10-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. By half time Whalsay’s lead had increased to 20-9.
Changes were made with Leyland moving to WA and Leask to GK. Play began to flow more easily but with Janet Abernethy GK and Sarah Kay GD in fine form in the Whalsay defence shooting opportunities for AHS were limited. A good all round team performance by Whalsay, who stretched their lead to a 16 goal difference at the final whistle.
Janet Abernethy and Inga Woods were voted players of the match.
Division Two
Da McEwans 33, Challengers 44
Da McEwans were missing quite a few regulars and had to call on young Kirsty Johnson to step in and play GS to ensure that they had the full complement of players and could give the Challengers a good game. The Challengers started very strongly and soon raced ahead, leading 12-4 at the end of the first quarter.
Da McEwans came out fighting in the second quarter as players settled more into unfamiliar positions and began to produce better netball, reducing the gap slightly by half time.
The third quarter was quite close but even though Joanne Stewart and Johnson were shooting well the Challengers kept a strong lead as Louise Johnson and Louise Anderson never missed a shot at the other end. Although Da McEwans battled on until the end and managed to close the deficit the Challengers were very strong throughout and never looked like losing. Players of the match were Sonya Shearer for Da McEwans and Louise Johnson for the Challengers. A special mention for Kirsty Johnson who came in at the last minute and scored some very vital goals.
Division Three
Burra 24, Tingwall 35
The game started with Burra a player down. However, they were not going to make it easy for Tingwall.
Both teams settled in quickly to their games, with accurate passing and shooting. Burra’s Heather Henry (C) and Alexis Jamieson (GA) were linking well in the centre court. Burra stayed in the game in the first quarter with a score of 9-7 to Tingwall.
In the second quarter Tingwall made some changes to their team which improved their game. Excellent shooting from Zoey Symington saw Tingwall pull ahead of Burra.
The second half of the game saw Burra working hard to stay in the game with Alexis Jamieson finding her form and producing some spectacular goals into the net. Marie Sharp came on to play at centre for Burra, giving Burra the chance to narrow the gap. This quarter ended 27-18 to Tingwall.
In the final quarter Burra’s shooters had to work hard for the ball. Close marking from Tingwall’s defence proved too good. Tingwall came out the winners and proved too strong for Burra. The game ended 35-24.
Players of the match were Heather Henry for Burra and Zoey Symington for Tingwall.
Inter-county trials
Senior inter-county netball trials are being held at Clickimin on Wednesday (7pm to 9pm), Sunday 13th December (5pm to 7pm) and Wednesday 16th December (7pm to 9pm).
All senior players are invited to attend along with junior players from secondary four and upwards.
The inter-county is to be held in Shetland on Saturday 21st March 2010. For further details or queries contact Valerie Morrison on (01595) 840593.
