Netball girls on a roll

ICUNC have had a fantastic start to the season especially in the BUCS leagues, with the 1sts currently 2nd in their leagueand with promotion still very much in their grasps.

The 2nds are still joint top and promotion could easily come down to the last game of the season against QM 2nds. IC 3rds are currently holding a strong mid-table position and with some strong play in the return fixtures, promotion is still on the cards. In the new LUSL league IC have 5 teams competing for the first time. The 1sts are currently mid-table in the premier division, but are the only IC team left in the LUSL cup. The 2nds and 3rds share the same league alongside some very tough competition such as UCL 3rds, both teams are in comfortable positions. The 4ths and 5ths also share the same league and are again in comfortable positions in the league. Unfortunately ICUNC have yet to find a sponsor this year, and who wouldn’t want to sponsor 60 beautiful, intelligent ladies like ourselves. Watch this space for news on our upcoming Netball Funday; it’s going to be wild!

IC 1s vs LSE 3s

Last Monday IC 1sts played in their second LUSL cup match of the season against LSE 3rds in Ethos. With a few key players missing Nancy Edge and Amelia Al-Qazzaz stepped up to the plate having their first team debuts. With the centre court being completely re-modelled no one was quite sure how the team would perform and this showed in a shaky first quarter. The passing was slow and inaccurate with many mistakes being made by both teams but IC managed to gain a small advantage.

In the second quarter with some amazing interceptions by Verity Roberts and Sophie Andrew in defence the game flowed a little more and IC started to pull ahead. Tereze Gaile and Amelia Al-Qazzaz were steadily bringing the ball from defence to attack and IC was on a roll finishing the quarter well ahead.

In the third quarter the team really did start to shine. Nancy Edge provided some perfect passes into the circle and Tamar Loach was on fire (as usual) never missing a shot! The final quarter was almost a formality; the play dipped in quality as the win became inevitable and some very silly mistakes were made. The target of 80 wasn’t quite reached but everyone was pleased with a final score of IC 70, LSE 23. The 1sts next LUSL cup match is against Royal Holloway 1sts in January, which promises to be a slightly more challenging game. The IC 1sts are flying the flag for imperial as they are the last IC (non-medic) netball team in a cup this season so make sure you come and support them if you get a chance.

IC 2s vs RHUL 3s

On Monday IC 2nds took on RHUL 3rds away, and it truly was away. A tube, two trains and a 12 minute walk later we arrived. Funny that this was a LUSL game for London Universities and we were playing in Kent somewhere, needless to say we were very unimpressed. With freezing cold temperatures and only 7 players, we weren’t exactly excited about the next hour.

The first quarter started out slowly with the cold clearly taking its toll on everyone’s brain function, neither IC nor RHUL had anything much to shout about. We started to pull away capitalising on RHUL mistakes, thanks to some fantastic interceptionsfrom, smallest player on the team, Emily Rolfe. It was clear that our new “fling a limb” tactic was working, with IC arms flailing everywhere we were making it difficult for RHUL to string together any significant number of passes.

The second quarter started off well with about 5 goals in a row from IC, impressive cross-court dives from Rebecca Tyne ensured that no loose ball went to waste. RHUL 3rds were slow to pick up on our pattern of play and centres repeatedly went from Abi, to Beverley, to Emily, to Harriet to goal. At this point the umpires decided to become extra strict onour team and we were called up for some very dubious “ball control.” However, a lack of keeping up with the new rules also worked in our favour with RHUL’s GD being blown up for marking off court. The end of the second quarter and we were pulling further away.

The 3rd quarter came and we all started to relax a bit, the game wasn’t very intense and we were ahead by enough. Catherine Burrows employed a new “pencil jumping” technique that was hugely effective against their goal shooter, and she was almost cut out of the game. Great shooting from both Beverly Tsang and Harriet Rumgay ensured that every opportunity was taken, although we did have some fancy footwork from Harriet who seemed to think we were doing some dancing.

It was the final quarter and RHUL had just been promised Nando’s by their coach if they managed to get it back and win, unfortunately no one was offering to take IC out for dinner for being consistently awesome. Sloppy play and agitation from RHUL meant that goal attack was blown up for contacting Toni Semmence a lot, but no amount of bruises were going to make IC back down now. If we weren’t getting Nando’s no one would be.v Domineering play in the centre court from Abigail Johnston Hume ensured that our lead only increased. Unfortunately the final score is currently unknown because as soon as the final whistle blew IC were off court, grabbing our stuff and sprinting to the train station so we didn’t have to wait half an hour for the next train. A rash shout by Toni stating she” knew which carriage to get on so we have to walk less at Wimbledon” ended up being a 100% wrong and IC 2nds were forced to walk the entire length of the platform.

IC 3s vs KCL 3s

The day started off eventfully, with snow delaying all trains to Egham. When we arrived with 7 players, already at a disadvantage, crossing our fingers there would be no other incidents, two of our players were told they couldn’t play because of piercings that needed to be taken out. According to said players these piercings were ‘impossible’ to take out. ‘You need pliers’ ‘you can push it through my ear’ ‘someone just pull it out’ ‘there’s blood’. After multiple attempts we managed, as a team, to remove all earrings and play commenced as the clock struck 3, with the Sun blinding players eyes even in the freezing conditions.

The first quarter started off eventfully with some strong interceptions from new player Kirstin and some good shooting from Izzie. The score at the end of the quarter didn’t reflect the level of competition with them leading 13-8. In the second quarter, the slippy court and an over zealous shooter got the best of Laura, and she went tumbling slamming her knee into the cement, which could be heard from the other side of the court. Play stopped and she was carried by 6 people, including both umpires, off the court. She managed to bandage herself up (what do medics need 6 years for?) and play continued with only 6 players. Two goals were scored in quick succession, showing RHUL that we were a force to be reckoned with. That quarter ended with RHUL 21-14.

Laura had managed to create a bandage strong enough to hold what was left of her knee together and hobbled on court. Despite her injuries she managed some fantastic interceptions, causing players and umpires to applaudher courage and determination. The fourth quarter opened with a swift interception from Kate, leading to a goal for IC. The game ended as the last of the sun disappeared behind the trees, with a disappointing loss for IC, but ready and full of fury to take on Brunel 6s next Wednesday.