Loungers and Rowley the teams to beat in netball first division

Loungers and Team Rowley both had comfortable wins in division one of the netball league while Supernova and Arctic Security were successful in the second division and Atomic Force and Tingwall picked up victories in division three.

Division One

Loungers 43, AHS 17

Loungers won the toss and started with tight marking and accurate passing. The defence of Louise Moar and Victoria Duthie made it difficult for AHS shooters Louise Jamieson and Liza Fullerton to receive the ball and limited their scoring opportunities. Loungers led 10-4 at the end of the first quarter.

AHS tightened up their marking at the start of the second quarter but Loungers mid-court players Vicki Henderson and Hazel Uren continued to work well together with accurate passing to shooters Stella Oldbury and Claire Young to pull further ahead. The quarter ended 25-9 to Loungers.

Loungers continued to do well, picking up rebounds in the circle and in mid-court which they then converted to goals, resulting in the third quarter ending 33-14.

Loungers tightened up in the final quarter to keep pulling ahead. Diane Thomson offered great support up court and Beth Leslie and Henderson continued supporting around the shooting circle with some lovely feeds in to the shooters. Claire Morris for AHS continued working hard, fighting for every ball.

Players of the match were Claire Morris for AHS and Vicki Henderson for Loungers.

Team Rowley 58, Kinetics 26

Rowley were the first to settle and after a few minutes were playing flowing netball which gave them a solid three-goal lead. Kinetics took some time to get into the game and although Rowley were able to maintain the advantage, Kinetics were matching them goal for goal in the latter part of this opening quarter. The score at the whistle was 14-7 to Team Rowley.

Team Rowley stepped up a gear in the second quarter and were fairly dominant. The shooting duo of Marie Clarke and Lisa Morrison were beginning to fire on all cylinders and making life difficult for the Kinetics defence.

Morag Fox, Clarke and Kylie Wood for Rowley were making a good job of restricting passing options for Kinetics and breaking down play in the centre court. However, the change of Kirsti Leask to GA from GS did help the Kinetics attacking effort and accurate shooting from her and Debbie Smith allowed Kinetics to stay near to gaining half points. The score at half time was 31-13 to TR.

The third quarter was more even with good interceptions from both TR centre Karen Bannister and Kinetics GD Andrea Tait in the mid-court. The new shooting combination of Chloe Miller and Smith was gelling well but towards the end of the quartter TR were able to pull away again to make it 45-19 going into the final quarter.

For the fourth quarter Debbie Smith moved to GK with Kirsti Leask coming back to the GA position. TR also made a change with Lisa and Marie switching to GA and GS respectively. Both shooters continued their great play with some brilliant long range shots. GD Maisie Unsworth and GK Brenda Leask were also doing their bit with strong rebounding at the other end.

With Kinetics still battling for half points they managed to put some pressure on Rowley, helped by more interceptions from Tait in the mid-court as a result of slack TR passing. Fiona Shearer and Rowan Nicholson worked tirelessly in the mid-court for Kinetics and kept fighting until the final whistle. However, Rowley had already cemented their lead.

Players of the match were Marie Clarke for Team Rowley and Fiona Shearer for Kinetics.

Division Two

Mishaps 31, Supernova 42

The fast-paced first quarter began with fairly even play. Both teams were fighting for the ball with some excellent interceptions and quick, even passes. The Haining duo Liz (GA) and Lisa (GD) were on top form with Lisa working tirelessly to get the ball up the court and Liz rarely missing a shot.

Mishaps worked hard with some strong accurate passes in the centre court from Lara Thomason and Jennifer Manson. However, Supernova ended the quarter with a narrow lead of 12-8.

The second quarter saw Supernova take a further lead with Liz and Marianne Williamson shooting on target. Mishaps began fighting back as defenders Rona Simpson and Emma Inkster worked hard to gain possession of the ball, feeding it up the court to Leanne Tait whose shooting was, as ever, very accurate. However, Supernova’s Jenny Wylie and Lisa worked well together in defence, making it hard for the shooting duo, Leanne and Ann-Marie Goudie. The first half ended with a 22-15 lead to Supernova.

The third quarter of the game saw some strong end-to-end play. In the centre court, Jennifer and Leanna Henderson, who came on as centre, carried out some excellent interceptions for the Mishaps, getting the ball up the court to the shooting circle. Kristen Robertson and Helen Mathewson also worked hard moving well in the centre court. Mishaps worked hard to fight back in this quarter but Supernova’s lead remained fairly steady at 29-23.

The final quarter commenced with some good all-round play from both teams. Supernova’s passing and interceptions were very strong along with many accurate shots from Liz. Their defence was very impressive with Jenny and Lisa remaining strong.

Mishaps made an attempt at a comeback with Ann-Marie and Lara making some excellent passes to shooters Leanne and Leanna. However, this was to no avail as Supernova’s lead increased further.

Players of the match were Lisa and Liz Haining for Supernova and Leanna Henderson for Mishaps.

Da McEwans 22, Arctic Secuirty 49

Arctic Security started very strongly and soon settled into some good netball.  Shooters Kayti Jeromson and Julie Brown were in good form and not missing anything, ensuring a 13-5 lead at the end of the quarter.

They increased their lead in the second quarter as Da McEwans’ shooters struggled against the height of Kristen Johnson in the shooting circle.

Da McEwans fought back in the third quarter as Joanne Stewart switched to GS and used her fast shooting to find the net, and along with Sonya Shearer at GA they began to narrow the gap slightly. Maggie Kay was working tirelessly in the centre court for Da McEwans as well, but Arctic Security were still playing strong netball.

Arctic Security were unfortunate to lose Jennifer Wadley to injury in the last quarter, and as they didn’t have any substitutes they had to play the remainder of the match with just six players.

Da McEwans were determined to get the half points and capitalized on having an extra player on court. Despite their best efforts Arctic Security remained too strong and went on to win convincingly, denying Da McEwans a point.

Players of the match were Maggie Kay for Da McEwans Julie Brown for Arctic Security.

Division Three

Da Hooligans 27, Atomic Force 34

The game started quickly with Da Hooligans winning the centre pass. There was strong end-to-end play from both teams with accurate shooting from Da Hooligans’ Valerie Sales and Marie Manson.

Linking passes from Atomic Force’s Jade Stevenson and Kirsty Uttley were strong into the shooters who rarely missed a shot. Da Hooligans defenders Lara Kay and Abbey Irvine did not let this faze them, however, and the quarter ended 11-8 in Da Hooligans’ favour.

The second quarter began with changes of players in both teams. Atomic Force came fighting back which made Da Hooligans’ Karis Irvine and Rhona Tait work hard to receive the ball. Atomic Force’s Claire Johnson rarely missed a shot which led to the quarter ending at 16-all.

The third quarter began with more changes. Atomic Force took lead with strong passes which strained Da Hooligans. The mid-court players from both teams fought tirelessly to gain the ball but Atomic Force took the lead and the quarter ended at 27-22.

The fourth quarter started strongly with both teams wanting possession. As the court got louder Da Hooligans’ Holly Jamieson and Valerie Sales worked well to get some goals back but it wasn’t enough and the game ended in Atomic Forces favour.

Players of the match were Abbey Irvine for Da Hooligans and Claire Johnson for Atomic Force.

Tingwall 26, Scallywags 25

Tingwall had first centre pass, but lost the ball, allowing Scallywags to score, closely followed by a second goal. Tingwall’s Donna Murray and Karla Stewart successfully managed to feed the ball into the circle with Rachel Young scoring their first goal. From then each team scored turn about until the score stood at 7-5 to Scallywags.

In the second quarter Jill Williamson came on as Tingwalls WA to play her first game in many a year. Despite tight marking from Anne Bennett and Vivienne Wilson, hard work from Scallywag’s Gwen Malcolmson and Anne-Marie Robinson and excellent shooting from Cyndi Pottinger saw Scallywags ahead again at 13-11.

In the third quarter Andrea Jeromson came on as goal attack for Tingwall but with strong defence work from Naomi Johnson the quarter ended at 20-16 to Scallywags.

The last quarter was the fastest with both teams determined to win. Tingwall, however, seemed to step up a gear and with good passes into their circle.

Player of the match for Scallywags was Naomi Johnson and Donna Murray for Tingwall. Thanks to umpires Laura Kay and Julie Raeside.