Rowley and Kinetics keep pressure on netball league leaders

Team Rowley and Kinetics both recorded wins in the netball first division to keep the pressure on leaders Loungers. Hotfooters and Supernova were victorious in division two while in the third division Da Hooligans and Ness were successful.

Division One

Kinetics 43, Wastside 23

Both teams got off to a slow start. Good defence by Kinetics players Vaila Hough and Andrea Tait saw Wastside shooters Catherine Henry and Mhairi Moncrieff having to work for their points. A niggling injury to Kirsti Leask saw Debbie Smith replace her as centre. The score at the end of the first quarter was 10-6 to Kinetics.

Kinetics picked up the pace with Rowan Nicolson finding plenty of space in the centre third. With Kirsti back on court and Chloe Miller at GS, Kinetics managed to gain a eight-goal lead, making the half time score 21-13 to Kinetics.

Wastside’s Michaela Johnson changed to centre and Lyndsey Morrison to WA, bringing excellent centre court action. But the Kinetics defence of Vaila and Andrea forced long range shooting and excellent rebound opportunities for Kinetics. At the end of the quarter Kinetics had stretched the lead to 30-20.

Kinetics started well from the whistle with a few more players being shuffled. The combination of Debbie Smith and Kirsti Leask worked well in the Kinetics circle. Centre-court interceptions and excellent defence for Kinetics meant that they could use to their advantage and score a few more before the final whistle.

Players of the match were Debbie Smith for Kinetics and Lyndsey Morrison for Wastside.

Team Rowley 51, AHS 12

Team Rowley started quickly with strong attacking play. Karen Bannister and Dawn Manson were linking well with shooters Marie Clark and Lisa Morrison, accurately feeding balls into the circle which were converted to goals.

AHS were still trying to find their form in the second quarter, making several unforced errors. This wasn’t helped by Karen Bannister’s many interceptions in all areas of the court.  The AHS defence of Megan Keppie, Rozanne Georgeson and Ann-Marie Kennerley worked extremely hard to break down the Team Rowley play, marking their players tightly and forcing the Team Rowley attack to step up their game.

The third quarter saw AHS become more involved with better movement and passing throughout the court.  Hayley Tulloch moved to GS and Liza Fullerton to GA. The AHS shooters worked well together with Hayley scoring some great goals.

Team Rowley continued to dominate in the final quarter, however, with fantastic interceptions from Maisie Unsworth and Brenda Leask and consistent shooting from Clark and Morrison. AHS kept fighting until the final whistle but Team Rowley proved too strong.

Players of the match were Maisie Unsworth for Team Rowley and Hayley Tulloch for AHS.

Division Two

Hotfooters 34, Mishaps 23

Hotfooters had a positive start, quickly taking the lead 5-1 before Mishaps found form and began to trade goals. It was 8-4 to Hotfooters at the end of the first quarter.

It was a very even second period as Mishaps defended, well putting pressure on Hotfooters attack, resulting in many errors and turnovers. Kim Johnson and Merran Johnston were being forced to work hard to regain possession in order to keep their team ahead. The score at half-time was 18-12.

The third quarter continued much the same with Mishaps continuing to unsettle the young team, preventing them from playing the fast flowing netball they enjoy with mid-court players Suzanne Manson and Lara Thomason particularly influential. The score was 25-19 to Hotfooters going into the last period.

A more composed Hotfooters played out the final quarter with more fluency in their passing and this made the difference as they pulled ahead to take the game.

Leanne Tait picked up the player of the match award for Mishaps with Kim Johnson getting the vote for Hotfooters.

Da McEwans 39, Supernova 43

Da McEwans started very strongly and took Supernova by storm as they raced into a convincing lead.

Sonya Shearer and Joanne Stewart were missing nothing in the shooting circle and new signing Ellie Simpson was settling in well at GD and together with Emily Henderson and Gemma Manson they were dominating in defence. At the end of the quarter Da McEwans led 18-8.

Supernova made a few changes in the second quarter and came more into the game. Lizzie Haining and Marianne Williamson began to take control of their shooting circle and net a few goals, and at the other end Jenny Wylie and Kristan Robertson were getting their hands to a lot of interceptions. Da McEwans began to lose steam after their fast start, and there was only four goals in it at the end of the quarter.

Supernova continued to dominate in the third quarter and caught up the score and took the lead as they continued to play good attacking netball. Maggie Kay worked tirelessly at centre for Da McEwans but the tired legs were evident as their passes became scrappy and wild.

Despite the best efforts of Da McEwans in the last quarter, Supernova held on to their lead and went on to win in a game that could have gone either way.

Players of the match were Ellie Simpson and Maggie Kay for Da McEwans and Lizzie Haining for Supernova.

Division Three

Da Hooligans 31, Scallywags 25

The first quarter started fast with both teams fighting for every ball. Despite strong interceptions from Naomi Johnson in the Scallywags defence, Da Hooligans shooters Valerie Sales and Rhea Kay rarely missed resulting in a 9-5 lead to Da Hooligans at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter the Scallywags came out determind to close the gap. Strong defending from Lara Kay and Abbey Irvine kept the Scallywags shooters Anne-Marie Robinson and Cindy Pottinger at bay. Da Hooligans kept fighting and managed to end the quarter with a 19-10 lead.

At the end of half time both teams came on court recharged and ready to continue the fast pace that the pervious quarters had seen. After the close battle in the second quarter Karis Irvine worked tirelessly in the centre court to place accurate passes to Da Hooligans shooter Marie Manson. The third quarter ended with the Scallywags closing the gap leaving court just behind.

In the end quarter the Scallywags could see Da Hooligans were starting to become tired, so they upped their game.  This was the best quarter of the match with end to end play and precise shooting coming from the on form Scallywag shooters. Nicola Polson made some vital interceptions for Da Hooligans through-out the quarter. Good play between Holly Jamieson and Da Hooligans shooters helped them to hold the lead and win the game 31-25.

Players of the match were Abbey Irvine for Da Hooligans and Nicola Smith for Scallywags.

Ness 40, Dutch Courage 13

Dutch courage won the first centre pass and with good passing up the court Kathleen Smith scored the first goal. Both teams took a while to settle but Ness took the upper hand with accurate passing into their circle from Maya Whittall and Ashley Young to shooters Caroline Wood and Clare Farmer who were shooting well.  The first quarter ended 12-2 to Ness.

Ness made a few changes in the second quarter with Elizabeth Williamson coming on at WA and Ashley Young moving to centre. Ness were quick to settle with Ashley and Elizabeth feeding good passes into the circle. Clare Farmer was finding good space and shooting accurately. Dutch Courage centre Kate Wills made some good interceptions but the Ness defence Ruth Christie and Gina Scanlan proved too good as Dutch Courage only scored one goal.

Both teams made a lot of changes in the third quarter with Elizabeth Williamson moving to GS and scoring some long-range goals for Ness. Vaila Pearson and Kate Wills were also linking well down the court and Kathleen Smith was finding space in the circle and shooting well. Dutch Courage picked up their play and the third quarter ended 30-9 to Ness.

Both teams made changes again in the final quarter. Ness played well with good passing up the court from centre Maya Whittall and some great interceptions from Ashley Young and proved to be the stronger team.

The scoreline did not reflect how hard Ness had to work during the match with Dutch Courage’s team play improving every match. Players of the match were Vaila Pearson for Dutch Courage and Elizabeth Williamson for Ness.