Netball 2s continue winning streak
Toni Semmence gently boasts about Netball 2s dominance
This week saw a busy week for ICUNC with 8 scheduled games and the first LUSL games of the season.
On Monday evening the 1sts took on QM 1sts away, the game started quite closely but QM started to pull away. Lack of familiarity within the 1sts and small mistakes give plenty to work on in training, and with a strong foundation to build on the quality of play can only improve. The game ended 40-24 to QM.
The 3rds also had a tough game, taking on the strongest team in the league, UCL 3rds. Good play by the 3rds was not enough to stop UCL dominating, regardless of this the 3rds played on hard with the score ending 60-20 to UCL. Nancy Edge’s great work in the centre court earned her man of the match.
The 2nds had a home game and took on RHUL 2nds, after a win the previous Wednesday our heads were held high but we were very aware that this would be a tough game. Unfortunately, the first quarter ended with IC behind Royal Holloway by 8 goals, heads started to drop, maybe this wasn’t going to be as easy to come back from as Wednesday, but an inspirational team talk form Captain Abi and some changes on court saw everyone ready to fight back. RHUL had a very tall Goal Shooter, making it almost impossible for GK Emma Dixon to defend effectively even with the help of Catherine Burrows and so over half time we had to change our tactics and focus on blocking the Goal Attack out of the circle in the hope that this would stop them from scoring so many goals. The first half ended 26-18 to RHUL. The change of tactics proved successful, with Toni Semmence drawing contact from the GA. Fantastic interceptions by Rebecca Tyne, Sarah Simmonds and Emily Rolfe ensured by the end of the third quarter IC were only behind by 2 goals. Throughout the final quarter IC managed to maintain the 2 goal difference until the last 2 minutes where a turnover in midcourt led to us scoring, leaving us only one goal behind with only 1 minute to go. It was then our centre pass and after a few turnovers and a scrappy 30 seconds by both teams Abi managed to feed the ball to Hannah Weekes who scored the winning goal with both defenders out of play and only seconds left to spare, talk about pressure!! Fantastic movement from both Harriet Rumgay and Hannah in the ‘D’ gave Hannah joint man of the match with Toni. The game finished 40-40 with the 2nds continuing their unbeaten season.
Tuesday saw the 4ths and 5ths with their first game of the season at South Park courts in Fulham. The 4ths took on KCL 5ths withalmost a completely new team from last year. The game started slowly with most of the action being in the centre court. The 4ths started to fall behind but would not be deterred and fought right to the end with a respectable final score of 9-3 to KCL. Unfortunately LSE pulling out at the last minute meant the 5th team are yet to be able to show what they are made of.
Wednesday saw the return of BUCS matches where the 1sts took on St Barts 1sts away. Unfortunately a tough game saw the score end 35-21 to St Barts.
The 2nds had another home game and were determined to make the most of it and continue their unbeaten season against Herts 3rds. The 2nds went out hard and some brilliant defence by Emma Dixon and Rebecca Tyne ensured that Herts shooters barely saw the ball. More fantastic work at the other end of the court from Harriet Rumgay and Hannah Weekes ensured that every opportunity was capitalized on. The first quarter ended 11-6 in IC’s favour. The 2nd quarter saw Herts go out with a determination to close the gap, but strong play from Sarah Simmonds and Emily Rolfe ensured that the 1st half ended 19-15. The 3rd quarter saw Herts begin to close the gap more but controlling play from Abi Johnston Hume ensured that IC were still ahead. The final quarter and IC came out with a new lease of life, and managed to extend their lead. Great shooting and movement form Beverly Tsang and Hannah brought the game to a close at 37-31 to IC, with the 2nds undefeated season continuing.
The 3rds took on West London 1sts away, and with many of the senior players absent due to Commemoration Day, Amelia Al-Qazzaz led the team. The game was very close, but unfortunately was lost in the last quarter and West London won the game 23-18. A special mention goes to Isobel McLachlan for her fantastic shooting on the day.
