Netball U19’s vs Ipswich High School
Woodbridge 30 – 29 Ipswich High School
With the toughest opposition being our first league fixture of the season, nerves were evident among the team, especially having lost to Ipswich High in the County tournament, so the girls knew it would be a challenging but an evenly matched game, with everything to play for. From the starting whistle, we played with everything we had; Esmee Scott made some fantastic interceptions against her 6ft odd shooter and distributed the ball effectively out of our defending circle to Ellisse Morey, Tara King, Ella Burdett and Imogen Bacon who were waiting with anticipation to pass it into our attacking third. These four also made some excellent interceptions and composed themselves before finding the next important pass. Imogen Craig had a storming game at centre and controlled the speed of the game, (although a little too fast at times!!) but always managed to pressurise her opponent and intercept or chase down every loose ball. Bella Chater worked hard feeding both Lily Felton and Olivia Woodmansee, who shot with confidence and determination – even if a couple of shots were missed! Snatching the rebounds enabled us to gain possession, therefore being able to convert the missed shots into goals. It was an extremely even match with the score 8 – 8 at the end of the 1st quarter, 16 – 16, then 24 – 21 to Ipswich High going into the 4th quarter, we had to give everything we had left to give. In the last minute of the game, with the score 29-29 and their centre pass, the pressure was on. Esmee fought hard and intercepted the ball. It then worked its way down the court to our shooters, but unfortuantely we missed the shot. Luckily, we had a sideline. With only 10 seconds left, the ball was fed perfectly into Olivia Woodmansee…who scored the final and winning goal!!! To say this game was nail biting (whilst giving me heart palpitations), is an understatement!! The best performance I have ever seen from this team!! Well done!!
Thank you to all the parents for their support – your encouragement empowered the girls to give everything until the final whistle and not give up! Also, special mention to Laura Marshall and Verity Jackson who supported from the side-line…the girls could not have done it without you shouting at them…so thank you!!
