BUCS Cup Semi-Finals for ICSM Netball!
Lindsay Hennah plays David to Brighton's goliath
After winning the BUCS South-Eastern conferencecup 2 years ago and losing out last year to the dubious ways of Royal Holloway, this year’s semi-final against Brighton 2s (away) had a lot riding on it. The journey to the idyllic retirement village of Eastbourne where Brighton students reside was challenge enough, but the long journey just added to our determination for coming away with a victory. We had a ‘nothing can stop us’ attitude and were ready for any challenge that might await us.
On arrival, we were confronted by a team larger – mainly in height – than any we have come across in London. The average height of the team was at least 6ft, but we have shown through our successes that height isn’t everything. We knew that we were going to have to use our skill and speed though the court to transfer the ball effectively through the court.
Brighton came out stronger than we expected and we were only able to hold down a 2 goal lead at the end of the first quarter. We took our time to settle into the game and allowed Brighton to get the better of us, pushing us off the ball and being more physical than expected. Stepping up to the Brighton’s physicality we managed to really pull away in the following 2 quarters, with the shooters capitalising on every opportunity, despite persistent foul play from the desperate Brighton defence. Our WD, Emma Williamson, with her speed and agility had some great turnovers in the centre court interrupting their attacking play, allowing us to gain a 39-27 lead heading into the final quarter of the game. The challenge was then to maintain the intensity of play and close out for a well deserved victory against 7 angry giants for the remaining 15 minutes.
Congratulations to the team for pulling together – a combination of great movement and perfect shooting in attack, pin point accurate feeding into the circle and the defence standing strong, holding space resulted in a final score of 50-37. With this fantasitic win we are now through to the semis! Now to get our revenge on Royal Holloway...
