Loungers keep up pressure on netball league leaders Team Rowley

Loungers picked up two victories in division one of the netball leagues to keep the pressure on leaders Team Rowley, while AHS managed to see off Challengers in the bottom of the table clash. In the second division Hotfooters and Unst were victorious while Da McEwans were successful in division three.

Division One
(sponsored by SLNA)

Challengers 32, AHS 36

Challengers started the game with only six players, after a panic to find the last team member, and five minutes into the game their seventh player came on court to play GS.

AHS pulled ahead in the first half. At half time Challengers put Louise Anderson into GS with Vaila Kay moving Louis Johnson to WA. This proved to be beneficial to Challengers who pulled back to one point behind AHS. AHS were missing a few players but the kept the pressure on Challengers and were the eventual winners.

Kinetics 42, Loungers 47

The game started at a fast pace with both teams battling to gain the lead in the first quarter. With well-timed interceptions from Victoria Duthie, Loungers pulled three goals ahead during the first 10 minutes.

The Kinetics defence of Ingrid Nicol and Lesley Spence upped the pressure on the Loungers attack, collecting well earned rebounds and converting them into much-needed points. The first quarter finished 14-11 in Kinetics’ favour.

The game continued to be a fast-paced battle during the second quarter. Both teams had made some changes going into this quarter, Jennifer Thompson coming into GK for Kristen Tait and Kirsti Leask taking the GS bib from Chloe Miller. During this quarter it was end-to-end play and with quick and strong passing from the mid-court duo of Vicki Henderson and Hazel Uren, Loungers clawed back their deficit to leave the half-time score at 26-all.

With everything still to play for in the second half both teams made changes to hopefully give them the edge. Kirsti Leask moved to GD for Kinetics with Chloe Miller going back to GS. Loungers swapped their circle players with Inga Woods moving to GA and Stella Oldbury into GS.

During this quarter Victoria Duthie defended well against a hard-working Sarah Grogan, gaining some crucial interceptions along with accurate shooting from both Loungers shooters. That allowed Loungers to pull ahead by five goals, leaving the score going into the last quarter at 34-39.

Kinetics still had the game to fight for going into the last quarter. Cheryl Simpson moved into the defensive circle from WD for Kinetics and Loungers kept their settled team the same. Loungers displayed some strong and determined play allowing them to keep their five-goal lead to the end of the match.

Players of the match were Sarah Grogan for Kinetics and Victoria Duthie for Loungers.

Challengers 23, Loungers 39

The game started with Loungers pulling ahead with five goals to Challengers’ none. The Challengers defence of Vaila Kay and Linda Irvine worked hard to intercept passes in to the Loungers shooters and Challengers pulled back a few goals. The half-time score was 19-13 to Loungers.

The second half saw fast and long passes from both teams, Vicki Henderson and Inga Woods linking very well together with Inga moving into shooting positions. Loungers were unstoppable and Challengers could not catch them.

Division Two
(Ocean Kinetics)

Hotfooters 38, Unst 27
This was Hotfooters’ last game of a very successful first season playing at senior level. Up against them were league leaders Unst who have not lost a match in the post-Christmas league.
Missing from the Unst line-up was the impressive defending trio of Kathleen Johnson, Linda Thomson and Martha Clark with Hotfooters without their GA Haley Tulloch.
Jenny Anderson slotted in at GA and settled quickly into her new role, intelligently feeding Liza Fullerton at GS and helping create an 8-6 first quarter lead.
The second quarter saw Hotfooters extend their lead with Laura Cheyne at WD and Anne Leask at WA particularly effective in the mid-court. Unst were looking slightly unsettled at half-time, trailing 18-11.
The third quarter saw a more focused Unst team on court as they began their comeback. Karis Burns at centre was now starting to move at speed and along with Amber Inkster at WD more shooting opportunities came their way.
With three minutes remaining the lead had been reduced to two goals. However, a great effort by Hotfooters saw them score four in a row to pull away to 26-20 going into the last quarter.
Hotfooters showed a real maturity in their play during the final period, staying calm under pressure, scoring from their centres and extending their lead by capitalising on turnovers with Iona Holmes taking several interceptions in defence.
Amber Inkster picked up the Unst player of the match with Liza Fullerton the player of the match for Hotfooters.

<b>Supernova 23, Unst 43</b>
Unst won the toss and quickly took an early lead, thanks to excellent mid-court support from Amber Inkster and Karis Burns in to the shooting circle where Chelsea Jamieson and Claire Priest rarely missed a shot. Supernova quickly found their feet, fighting for every ball, and by the end of the first quarter there was only four goals in it, with Unst leading 12-8.
The second quarter saw Unst increase their lead by six goals despite Supernova’s best efforts. When the whistle went for half time, Unst had secured a six-goal lead, with the score sitting at 23-17.
The second half of the match saw Unst bring on Jane Macaulay at WA, giving Karis Burns a well-deserved rest after a great game. Supernova continued to work tirelessly to try and close the gap, but the Unst shooters were on superb form and, on the odd occasion that they missed a shot they quickly won the rebound and scored. In the third quarter Unst continued to increase their lead, and unfortunately Supernova were just no contest for them.
The fourth and final quarter saw Supernova flagging with no substitutes to replace tired players. Unst capitalised on this and scored 11 goals, eventually winning by 10 goals.
Players of the match were Marianne Williamson for Supernova and Claire Priest for Unst.

<b>Wastside v Hotfooters</b>
Hotfooters won but no match report was received.

<b>Division Three</b>
<b>(Evelyn Rae) </b>

<b>Da McEwans 50, Da Hooligans 37</b>
Both teams started well with some great link-up play. The first quarter went goal for goal with Lara Kay producing some excellent shooting for Da Hooligans. This finished the quarter at 10-all.
The second quarter saw Da McEwans step up their game with some good interceptions, giving them a 10-goal lead at half time at 27-17.
Da Hooligans worked tirelessly to keep Da McEwans at bay but accurate shooting from Sonya Shearer and Joanne Stewart maintained McEwans’ lead in the third quarter 39-28, and through to the final quarter.
Players of the match were Eileen Robertson for Da McEwans and Lara Kay for Da Hooligans.