Loungers win again to strengthen lead at top of netball league first division

Loungers won convincingly against Supernova to strengthen their grip at the top of the netball first division while Team Rowley and Whalsay also recorded victories.

Division One

Team Rowley 42, Unst 17

The first quarter began with Team Rowley a player down and they were made to work hard to keep the score even with Unst taking advantage of the extra player.

Megan Burns and Alice Murray used accurate passing in the centre court to feed shooters Chelsea Jamieson and Debbie Smith in the circle where they rarely missed a shot.

Team Rowley returned to full strength towards the end of the first quarter with Anne Wood coming on at WD and finished slightly ahead at 9-6.

Team Rowley stepped up a gear in the second quarter with strong defensive play and crucial interceptions by Maisie Unsworth who was reading the game well and giving the Unst shooters limited scoring opportunities.

Quick movement up the court by Team Rowley’s Lauren Smith and Julie Kirkness and some good interceptions in the Unst half by Marie Clark also contributed to Rowley pulling ahead to 18-7 by half time.

The third quarter was much more even with Unst defenders Kathleen Johnson and Martha Clark making some good interceptions in the Unst end third to make it difficult for the Rowley attack. Rowley kept up the pressure though, working hard to win possession, and led 27-13 going into the final quarter.

Despite determined play from Unst, Team Rowley made it difficult for them to close in on their lead.  There was accurate shooting from Unst but they struggled to get the ball into the circle and Rowley took advantage of interceptions to increase their lead and win comfortably.

Players of the match were Maisie Unsworth for Team Rowley for her excellent interception and tireless defending and Debbie Smith for consistently accurate shooting for Unst.

Whalsay 45, Wastside 16

Whalsay settled quickly with shots on target, which gave them an early lead to end the first quarter at 11-4. Whalsay kept the pressure on in the second quarter with excellent interceptions by Natalie Polson, Janet Abernethy and Sarah Kay.

Wastside kept up the fight with good defending by Shona Keith and Pauline Walterson who supported well up the court. Both teams made changers at half time but it was Whalsay who dominated the game to win by 29 points.

Players of the match were June Williamson for Whalsay and Shona Keith for Wastside.

Supernova 14, Loungers 58

Both teams started confidently, with each scoring a goal. Loungers, however, quickly gained pace and put themselves into the lead. Supernova put in a great effort but found it difficult to get past the Loungers defence.

Accurate work around the circle by Vicki Henderson and Julie Grant and good shooting resulted in the score being 12-5 at the end of the first quarter.

Supernova started the second quarter well with some good passes and good defence from Hannah Burgess. Loungers continued to intercept well and quickly transformed each ball they got into goals. The score at half time was 30-9.

In the last two quarters both teams continued to work hard. Supernova centre Sarah Groat kept up well with the Loungers centre, passing and defending well around both circles.

Loungers continued their strong play so their lead grew and the game finished with them 44 points ahead.

Players of the match were Hannah Burgess for Supernova and Ava Sim and Jennifer Thomson for Loungers.

For second division reports and tables see this week’s Shetland Times.