Club teams take on each other in two games with pride and points at stake

MONDAY evening saw a nail biting derby match between Hinckley D and Hinckley C.

From the off the C team’s strong attack pressurised the D team defence with some strong play around the goal circle and strong drives to receive long feeds in the circle. At the end of the first quarter there wasn’t much in it but the C team took to court in the second with determination to pile on the pressure successfully taking a small lead advantage.

Undeterred the D team came back in the third with fire in their belly and, with precise passing down the court and pin point accurate shooting from the shooters, the D’s edged slightly ahead.

It was all down to the last quarter with both defences staying composed and tight.

With only one goal in it, the D team secured another win 38-37. Player of the match went to Zoe Stokes for her outstanding shooting for the C team and to wing attack Liz Newman for the D’s playing up from the E’s for her tireless attacks up and down the court.

In the second interclub league derby match of the week Hinckley C took on Hinckley B on Saturday. It was a tense first quarter for both teams as the game went goal for goal, each team fighting to keep the upper hand.

There were changes in the team for the B’s at half time to try and put pressure on the C’s. Both sets of defenders were having to work tirelessly to stop the attackers from running away with the game. However by the end of the third quarter the Cs had worked up an 11-goal lead.

The centre court players worked patiently to try and use the possession and get the ball down to the shooters. The C’s managed to hold onto their lead with a final score: Hinckley C 44 - 27 Hinckley B.

Players of the match were goal defence Jess Pickering for the B’s and centre Lucy Masser for the C’s.

Hinckley D team played again midweek meeting the competitive and tough Henley team. With both teams in the running for promotion this was going to be an intense match. After the first quarter there was nothing to split the two teams, so it was going to be who could hold their nerves and composure the longest. Henley’s strong defence worked together as a unit to eliminate passes into Hinckley’s attacking circle and well-timed interceptions from the goal defence saw overturned balls delivered in to the Henley attackers.

A small lead was established by Henley which was being chased down by Hinckley but unfortunately it was not meant to be and Henley eventually secured the crucial win. Player of the match went to Holly Hemsley

Hinckley E’s had a very frustrating game away against Keresley this week. Play in the first quarter started tight with end to end passing before Keresley went ahead 14–8. The Hinckley attack couldn’t get decent feeds into the shooters during the second quarter and with many missed opportunities Kereslely capitalised on Hinckley’s errors and increased their lead even further. At half time Hinckley’s goal attack and goal shooter switched positions and the third quarter was much improved with Hinckley able to feed the ball better into the circle and scoring 13 goals and closing the gap slightly. Hinckley’s defenders read and intercepted the long loopy balls and were able to turn around play on many occasions.

Hinckley scored more goals than Keresley in the final quarter but after the low scoring second they could not do enough to close the gap.

The final score went in Keresley’s favour 44–36. Player of the match went to wing attack/centre Liz Newman for her persistent energetic performance.

The F team were home against Jaguar Landrover (JLR). JLR started the game the sharper of the two sides and got off to a flying start which saw the visitors going in at the end of the first quarter 10-4 ahead.

In the second Hinckley started to settle into the game with some great movement throughout the team, they started to find their rhythm with some great work around the court.

The half-time score 11-17 to JLR. In the second half Hinckley came out firing on all cylinders and played some excellent netball scoring some great goals along the way.

At the end of the third quarter Hinckley had got the score down to within three goals but JLR still lead 22-19 going into the final period of the match.

The last quarter was end-to-end and Hinckley were getting closer to the visitors but unfortunately it resulted in a 31-25 defeat. Player of the match was Katie Eaves.