Kinetics and Whalsay keep on pressure for second spot in netball’s top flight

Kinetics and Whalsay, both in contention for second place in the netball first division, enjoyed comfortable wins over Supernova and Challengers respectively in last week’s action.

Division One

Supernova 16, Kinetics 41

Supernova had the first centre pass but Kinetics quickly gained possession, taking an early lead and dominating play against their opponents.

Meanwhile Supernova took a little time to find their stride, demonstrating some excellent teamwork around the shooting circle from Sarah Groat and Helen Mathewson in to shooting duo Liz Haining and Stephanie Keith. The score at the end of the first quarter was 10-5 to Kinetics.

Supernova brought Jeanna Inkster on as WD in the second quarter, in the hope that her experience could help calm the rest of her team down. Supernova’s passing improved but the mighty Kinetics were stronger, and despite their determination, with constant pressure from defenders Hannah Burgess and Katie Farnworth, Kinetics started to increase the goal difference. The score at half time was 20-10 to Kinetics.

The second half saw Kinetics continue to increase their lead and they eventually won by 25 goals.

The defenders worked tirelessly and really shone throughout the match with Supernova’s Hannah Burgess and Kinetics’ Andrea Tait being named as players of the match.

Challengers 25, Whalsay 51

The game started with both teams making mistakes in the first quarter, with some fast play and bad passes.

At half time Whalsay had settled and began to pull away. The Challengers defence of Linda Irvine and Marie Irvine played well, intercepting shots from the Whalsay shooters, but Challengers couldn’t get the ball into attacking positions.

Challengers had more bad luck when Lynsey Pearson suffered an injury and had to come off, then shortly afterwards Heather Williamson was also injured. Substitutes Kathleen Jamieson and Loraine Anderson came on but great mid-court play from Catherine Williamson kept the game going in the right direction for Whalsay.

In the last quarter Vaila Kay never missed a shot and Whalsay won by 26 goals.

Players of the match were Catherine Williamson and Natalie Polson for Whalsay and Linda Irvine for Challengers.

Division Two

Ness 40, Tingwall 20

Ness started a bit nervously, allowing Tingwall to capitalise and take an early 2-0 lead. Zoey Symington for Tingwall was on fine form, scoring with almost every shot and getting away from her defender easily. But Ness eventually settled and the shooting duo of Caroline Wood and Elizabeth Williamson brought Ness back into the game at 8-8.

The second quarter was more evenly matched from the outset. The centre court players for both teams were working hard to feed into the shooters, particularly both centres, Wilma Poleson and Kirstin Sineath. The quarter ended 16-15 to Tingwall.

The half time team talk must have put some fire in the Ness bellies as they came out fighting for every ball. Their defenders finally took control of their circle and Vaila Irvine found a way of breaking down Symington’s dominance. This must have boosted the whole team’s confidence as the passes became more accurate and the shooters barely missed a shot, ending the quarter at 29-16 to Ness.

Unfortunately for Tingwall powerful defender Anne Mouat hurt her ankle near the end of the third quarter and this allowed the Ness shooters to dominate again in the fourth quarter.

Tingwall couldn’t find the answer they needed to come back into the game, but did manage a last-chance goal to salvage a point from the match, with the game ending 40-20.

Players of the match were Caroline Wood for Ness for her accurate shooting and dominance of the court and Wilma Poleson for Tingwall for her strong play, particularly at centre.

Da Hooligans 39, Scallywags 27

The first quarter started with quick end-to-end play with strong centre court passing from Holly Jamieson and Zoe Irvine of Da Hooligans. Cyndi Pottinger kept the Scallywags motivated but the score was 10-4 to Da Hooligans at the end of the 12 minutes.

Scallywags started the second quarter after making a few changes. Da Hooligans kept up their accurate passing but determination from Scallywags defenders Laura Saunders and Dana Stewart enabled them to intercept passes. Accurate shooting from the Scallywags narrowed the gap, leaving the score 19-15 to Da Hooligans at half time.

The third quarter started with changes made to both teams. Strong centre court play from the Scallywags resulted in the ball being played into the circle with opportunities at shots. Better defending from Lisa Smith and Nicola Polson of Da Hooligans prevented them catching up. This quarter ended 29-22 to Da Hooligans.

Both teams started the final quarter determined to win. Accurate passing from Abbey Irvine and Karis Irvine from Da Hooligans resulted in the ball reaching shooters Valerie Sales and Rhea Kay, who scored a number of goals. This gave Da Hooligans a greater lead and they were 12 points ahead at the end.

Players of the match were Ann-Marie Robinson of Scallywags and Valerie Sales of Da Hooligans.

Mishaps 46, Burra 29

Both teams started fairly evenly, sharing possession, but Mishaps found their rhythm first and slowly began to pull ahead to lead 12-7.

The Mishaps defence of new recruit Iona Holmes and stalwart Elaine Jamieson started to work well together in the second quarter and thwarted many attacking moves by the country side. Ann-Marie Goudie and Suzanne Manson were linking particularly well with their shooters and Mishaps pulled away to a comfortable 23-12 lead by the interval.

Burra reshuffled their line up at half time with Heather Henry moving into GA. This, coupled with some pressured marking from Kirsty Halcrow and Caroline Tait, saw Burra pull back into the game, allowing Mishaps to increase their lead by only one more goal.

Mishaps reacted by making a few positional changes for the final quarter to positive effect and stormed home clear winners by 17 goals.

The star of the match was youngster Iona Holmes who settled very quickly, marking tightly, making valuable interceptions and passing with great accuracy. For Burra Heather Henry stood out.