U14B V EAST BERGHOLT
SCORE: Won 15-12
The U14B team has got off to a positive and successful start with two wins against Hadleigh and East Bergholt. Their first match against Hadleigh’s A team began with little thought for conserving energy, the first quarter flashing by to reveal a lead of 11 – 2 after some superb shooting from Ella Reynard and Joey Zhou, Joey playing competitive netball for the first time, and after only one lesson. Knowing the early pace had been unsustainable, the girls then cleverly slowed things down for the rest of the game. Controlled and accurate passing; brilliant defence from Nina Varadarajan, Myla Hart, Olivia Field and Talia Fawcett; interceptions and skilled game management from Cecily Royal-Dawson at Centre; Bea Hutchinson providing consistent ball to the shooters; and Maisy Webster, Emily Outen, and Ashleigh Wildbore did the rest. A really enjoyable first match to watch, a great win by 22 – 8, and player of the match to debutante Joey.
The second match against East Bergholt’s B team was much closer: indeed nail-biting to the end. In the lead but with only four goals in it going into the last quarter, our girls were caught out by a few inspired plays and three goals in quick succession. On the back foot … and a hint of panic. Luckily, our subs on the sideline were shouting for the girls to slow it down and cut in front to get the ball, and, when defending, to stick tight to the opposition. It worked, and we managed to pull ahead again and end the game three goal ahead. Erin Heffernan joined the team in defence and slotted in very well, and Joey played another fantastic game to win her second player of the match. 15 – 12 and an excellent start!
U12A V COPLESTON
W 41 – 0
The first league match of the season for the U12A team saw a fantastic win against Copleston. As this fixture had been rearranged, the team were so excited and ‘up for it’ as they had trained hard to ensure they came away with the result they wanted. Playing basic and simple netball (passing the ball in order down the court), enabled the girls to create space and work on their attacking play. They gelled as a team; supporting each other down the court and defending their opponents tightly. Most set pieces worked effectively; centre, backline and side-line passes, and when they didn’t go to plan, the girls worked tenaciously to intercept the ball. There was some superb shooting from Madeline Buchanan, Steph Gifford, Lara Hoffman-Leatherdale and Libbie Brightey. Even Ruby Vinton had a go at shooting in the last quarter, as our attack played in defence and vice versa. The ball was brought down the court efficiently by Ruby, Esme Ball and Chloe Macmillan and the defenders Maggie Nicholson, Ada Marson, Maggie Black and Isobel Mitchell worked tirelessly to ensure we turned over the ball in the opponents’ attacking half. A superb match to watch – well done girls!
Player of Match: Ruby Vinton
U13B V COPLESTON
The intent and motivation in our girls to play at their very best was heightened by the result the U13As had against the same Copleston team the week before. The girls came out and moved the ball around nicely and made some brilliant interceptions at key moments. The strength of the Copleston team shone through and their accurate shooting took them out to a commanding lead by half time. However, a rousing half time talk from Lucy Hobday, U13B captain, spurred her team onto a very successful 3rd quarter in which Isla Appleby was given many more opportunities to shoot and 5 goals were scored by Woodbridge girls in the second half. Player of the Match, as voted by Copleston, was Lucy and there were some outstanding performances from Bea Thomas, marking a tough opponent, and Helen Knight, wriggling free with some excellent dodging. A very positive start to the season from the girls, well done! |
|
|
| NETBALL: 1ST V IPSWICH HIGH (LEAGUE)
What an exciting and nail biting game to say the least!! This match was the U19s first league match of the season and what a game it was. From the starting whistle, the team worked tirelessly to ensure their passing was accurate and every player was cutting in front to receive the ball. The girls defended out of their skins; applying pressure on their opponents in every third of the court. At the end of the first quarter the score was 8 – 3 to Woodbridge. Ipswich High came back with a vengeance in the second half and closed the gap by scoring 7 goals to our 5. The tension was high both on and off the court, as every interception mattered and every shot, converted. Luckily, we kept our cool and ensured we played our own game.
Georgina Fulcher, Maddie Felton and Jemima Hill moved effectively and shot superbly and Chloe Outen and Daisy Pitt fed the ball brilliantly from the edge of the circle. Mollie Biddle, Georgina Warren and India Lawson’s defending was tight and they worked together to ensure the Goal Shooter was doubled marked while the Goal Attack was being kept out of the shooting circle. Our Captain Victoria Williams only played a quarter due to illness, but timed her interceptions perfectly as Goal Defence.
In the final quarter, Ipswich High fought hard and pulled back within one goal. Luckily, in the final 10 seconds of the game, Jemima Hill kept her cool and converted her shot, which took us two ahead. Phew! An excellent game, well done! We look forward to Ipswich School on Tuesday. |
|
|
| NETBALL: 1ST V ALDENHAM (TOURING SIDE)
A large U19 squad played a pre-season friendly against Aldenham School, Hertfordshire on Saturday 20 January at home. This game was to enable the girls to practise and apply the team tactics which had been focused on from the start of term and to try new ideas out, before the start of our league matches. We were leading 11 – 8 the first half, then unfortunately Aldenham’s two best players took over and ran the show, enabling the opposition to overtake. Although the final score was 23 – 38, it does not reflect the determination and commitment the girls gave to the game. It was a great training game – enabling the girls to play against tougher opposition. Well done to all. |
|
|
|
