News / Netball: No slacking from Loungers
There was a fight to stay off the bottom of the first division last week, while Loungers consolidated their place at the top.
AHS broke their duck with a victory over Challengers, who have still to win a match this season and weren’t helped by being one player short when the game started.
Challengers proved little challenge to Loungers, but Kinetics put up a very strong fight against the league leaders and it was the defensive work of Victoria Duthie that saved their unbeaten record intercepting shots from Sarah Grogan as the fast paced match reached its climax.
In the second division Unst could not manage to beat Hotfooters, but the island team proved too much for Supernova, beating them with 20 goals to spare.
In Division Three Da Hooligans made little impact on leaders Da McEwans.
Match reports courtesy Shetland Ladies Netball Association.
Division One – SLNA
Challengers 32 v AHS 36
Challengers started the game with only six players, after a panic to find the last team member, and with five minutes into the game their 7th player came on court to play GS.
AHS pulled ahead in the first half. At half time Challengers put Louise Anderson into GS with Vaila Kay moving Louise Johnson to WA, which proved to be beneficial to Challengers who pulled back to one point behind AHS.
AHS were missing a few players but they kept the pressure on Challengers and were the eventual winners 36-32.
Kinetics 42 v Loungers 47
The game started at a fast pace with both teams battling to gain the lead in the first quarter. With well timed interceptions from Victoria Duthie, Loungers pulled three goals ahead during the first 10 minutes of the game.
Kinetics defence of Ingrid Nicol (GD) and Lesley Spence (GK) upped the pressure on the Loungers attack collecting well earned rebounds and converting them into much needed points. The first quarter finished 14-11 in Kinetics favour.
The game continued to be a fast paced battle during the second quarter. Both teams had made some changes going into this quarter, Jennifer Thompson coming into GK for Kristen Tait and Kirsti Leask taking the GS bib from Chloe Miller.
During this quarter it was end to end play, with quick and strong passing from Loungers mid court duo Vicki Henderson and Hazel Uren Loungers clawed back their deficit leaving the half time score at 26 all.
With everything still to play for in the second half both teams made changes to hopefully give them the edge. Kirsti Leask moved to GD in Kinetics and Chloe Miller going back onto GS. Loungers swapped their circle players with Inga Woods moving to out GA and Stella Oldbury into GS.
During this quarter Victoria Duthie defended well against a hard working Sarah Grogan, gaining some crucial interceptions along with accurate shooting from both Loungers shooters allowed Loungers to pull ahead by five goals. Leaving the score going into the last quarter 34 – 39.
Kinetics still had the game to fight for going into the last quarter. Cheryl Simpson moved into the defensive circle from WD for Kinetics and Loungers keeping their settled team the same. Loungers displayed some strong and determined play allowing them to keep their five goals lead to the end of the match.
Players of the match were Sarah Grogan for Kinetics at GA and her counterpart Victoria Duthie at GD for Loungers.
Challengers 23 v Loungers 39
The game started with Loungers pulling ahead with five goals to Challengers’ none. Challengers defence of Vaila Kay and Linda Irvine worked hard to intercept passes into Loungers shooters and Challengers pulled back a few goals. Half time score was 19-13 to Loungers.
The second half saw fast and long passes from both teams, Vicki Henderson and Inga Woods linking very well together with Inga moving into shooting position. Loungers were unstoppable and Challengers couldn’t catch them.
Division Two – Ocean Kinetics
Hotfooters 38 v Unst 27
This was Hotfooters’ last game of a very successful first season playing at senior level. Up against them was league leaders Unst who have not lost a match in the post Xmas league.
Missing from Unst’s line up was the impressive defending trio of Kathleen Johnson, Linda Thomson and Martha Clark with Hotfooters without their GA Haley Tulloch.
Jenny Anderson slotted in at GA and settled quickly into her new role intelligently feeding Liza Fullerton GS helping create an 8–6 lead at quarter time.
The second quarter saw Hotfooters extend their lead with Laura Cheyne WD and Anne Leask WA particularly effective in the mid court. Unst looked slightly unsettled at half-time trailing 11 – 18.
The third quarter saw a more focused Unst team on court as they began their come back. Karis Burns C now started to move at speed and along with Amber Inkster WD more shooting opportunities came their way. With three minutes remaining the lead had been reduced to two goals. However a great effort by Hotfooters saw them score four in a row to pull away 26 – 20 going into the last quarter.
Hotfooters showed a real maturity in their play during the final period staying calm under pressure, scoring from their centres and extending their lead by capitalising on turnovers with Iona Holmes taking several interceptions in defence. The game finished 38 – 27.
Amber Inkster picked up the Unst player of the match with Liza Fullerton the player of the match for Hotfooters.
Supernova 23 v Unst 43
Unst won the toss and quickly took an early lead, thanks to excellent mid-court support from Amber Inkster (C) and Karis Burns (WA), into the shooting circle where Chelsea Jamieson (GA) and Claire Priest (GS) rarely missed a shot. Supernova quickly found their feet, fighting for every ball, and by the end of the first quarter there was only four goals in it, with Unst leading 12-8.
The second quarter saw Unst increase their lead by six goals despite Supernova’s best efforts. When the whistle went for half time, Unst had secured a six goal lead, with the score sitting at 23-17.
The second half of the match saw Unst bring on Jane Macaulay as WA, giving Karis Burns a well-deserved rest after a great game. Supernova continued to work tirelessly to try and close the gap, but the Unst shooters were on superb form and on the odd occasion that they missed a shot they quickly won the rebound and scored. In the third quarter Unst continued to increase their lead, and unfortunately Supernova were just no contest for them.
The fourth and final quarter saw Supernova flagging with no substitutes to replace tired players. Unst capitalised on this and scored 11 goals, eventually winning the match 43-23.
Players of the match were Marianne Williamson (GA) for Supernova and Claire Priest (GS) for Unst.
Wastside v Hotfooters
No match report received – Hotfooters won.
Division 3 – Evelyn Rae
Da McEwans 50 v Da Hooligans 37
Both teams started well with some great link up play. The first quarter went goal for goal with Lara Kay producing some excellent shooting for Da Hooligans. This finished the quarter 10 all.
The second quarter saw the McEwans step up their game with some good interceptions giving them a ten goal lead at half time. Leaving the quarter 27-17 to the McEwans.
Da Hooligans worked tirelessly to keep the McEwans at bay, but accurate shooting from Sonya Shearer and Joanne Stewart maintained a McEwan lead in the third quarter 39-28, and through to the final quarter. This ended the game 50-37 to the McEwans.
Players of the match were Eileen Robertson for the McEwans and Lara Kay stood out for Da Hooligans.
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