The dedication of the Netball 3rd team to their training finally paid off with a thrilling 45-27 win over Brunel on Wednesday.

The Imperial girls went into the game with mixed feelings, as that Brunel have a rather impressive reputation when it comes to Netball. However, captain Lucie’s Christmas themed team joke of the day set the girls in good spirits for the game.

Play started poorly for Imperial with Brunel overturning their first centre and scoring. Defenders Nakai and Fern worked hard, along with centre court players Becky and Sarah, to get the ball back down to the Imperial goal third. The girls’ hard work paid off as they finished the first quater 4 points ahead.

The second quarter saw some scrappy play from the IC girls, and despite staying ahead, everyone knew they could do better. The team went into the third quarter with a firm resolution to play to the best of their ability.

Center Amelia worked tirelessly to ensure play stayed at the right end of the court. Newly created shooting duo, Angela and Heather demonstrated beautiful movement and awareness around the goal third, scoring goal after goal, keeping the team ahead. 1st XV rugby player and try scorer in last week’s match, Louie Barnett, provided courtside analysis. He promptly concluded that he’d be scared to see the Brunel GK on a rugby field, let alone a netball court.

However, GS, Heather really put up a tough fight and received pass after pass from WA, Lucie.

The girls knew a win was in sight at the start of the last quarter, but this didn’t make then complacent, with them playing their best to the end.

Brunel, however, seemed to be happy to take the loss after an injury to their center; mid-way through the quarter they just seemed to give up, meaning that IC earned the well deserved win.