Trent close Varsity gap as clinical finishing goes amiss

Published on 11^th March 2010 in Netball, Varsity. One comment.

Within seconds of the start whistle, scores of men in the Clifton Sports Centre raised their eyebrows and commented along the lines of “So… this is pretty quick, I always thought that girls were rubbish at sport.” If nothing else, the 14 girls on the court managed to impress spectators with the sheer speed and athleticism they displayed in the four quarters of the match. With a rate of approximately a goal per minute the spectators couldn’t afford to be distracted (even by the hoards of campaigners swarming around you offering you sweets and flyers in return for your vote).

The opening minutes were a fairly even affair with Trent first off the mark and Uni invariably equalising almost immediately after. UoN managed a mini-break after some smooth centre court play, taking the score to 6-4. Unfortunately Trent displayed a feisty determination, which once more gave them a level footing within seconds. Once on a roll, Trent were able to capitalise on their goal-scoring success by notching up several goals in quick succession to put them into a comfortable 10-7 lead after the first quarter. The pressure was evidently starting to affect UoN’s shooting team of Freshers who missed several opportunities just seconds before the whistle blew.
Halfway through the second quarter AU Officer, Alex Hingley jumped to her feet in disbelief as Trent scored a solid goal but managed to skip a point on the scoreboard. A momentary lapse from the scoring team had conveniently taken Trent from 12-10 to being all even at 12-12. As Hingley dashed off in pursuit of the individual, no one on the court appeared to notice. Play continued regardless at the same rapid pace with each team scoring another goal, until the board eventually caught up and rightfully put UoN ahead once more.

Trent’s WA, a Miss Tucker, was causing all sorts of problems for UoN’s defence, with her incredible stamina, pace and ball-control. Nonetheless UoN kept up the pressure and although they were frequently playing catch-up, they stuck with the Trent side who had their foot firmly on the accelerator. On the whole, the crowd were fairly tame throughout the match, the odd “Uni” chant was swiftly shouted down by a strong army of Trent supporters, who at one point, took it upon themselves to boo UoN’s Centre every time she gained possession of the ball in response to an early disputed decision. As the whistle blew to mark the end of the second quarter, Trent managed to squeeze in an extra goal giving them an all-important 15-14 advantage at the halfway mark.

After just a minute and a half of play in the second half, Trent spectacularly broke down UoN’s defence to widen their lead. This goal was the first of 6 in quick succession in the space of just a few minutes for the Trent team. Uni were suddenly left with the daunting task of an enormous come-back despite having been hot on their rivals’ heels for the entire match. Uni headed off to the sidelines trailing by 7 goals.

Several crucial misses from the usually solid UoN shooting team cost them dearly and unfortunately the team only managed a feeble comeback. Trent stormed through the final 15 minutes with little sign of a let-up; their momentum was only briefly halted by an injury time-out for their GA who fell to the floor suffering from cramp. The Uni girls were evidently extremely frustrated by their failure to capitalise on their opportunities and in the final minutes they gave away several unnecessary penalties. UoN’s Goal Keeper accidently fell with defending arm accidently colliding with her rival’s face and a brief tussle between the Goal Defence and Wing Attack for a contested ball provided a spot of entertainment for the crowd.

With all due credit to the Uni team they never gave up, even managing to salvage a goal in the closing seconds to take the final score to 36-26. The team who had gone into the match as clear favourites were evidently crushed by their third consecutive Varsity defeat. As Trent fans taunted the UoN team as they left the court, one of our players bellowed “and that’s why you go to a shit Uni” as she stormed into the changing room. Despite several attempts I was unable to grab a post-match interview from any of the players, one of whom slammed the door in my face while maliciously spitting “See you later.” Not that I’m bitter or anything…
Nonetheless, fair credit to the girls they had put up a great fight, but suffered due to a rare lack of consistency from the goal scoring team and losing a hat trick of Varsity matches is obviously very tough to swallow.

Hattie Hamilton