Spirited display by ladies ends in defeat against leaders
A MUCH-CHANGED Hinckley Ladies Netball B put in a spirited display before finally going down to top of the league Highway C.
Both teams started strongly, going goal for goal in the first quarter but despite the hosts fighting for every ball and making interceptions in centre court, Highway managed to pull away in the second quarter leading 24-5 at half time.
Hinckley continued to fight with subs Zoe Stokes and Beth Willars making some excellent shots and the whole team working tirelessly but unfortu- A LATE Rich Harris penalty proved decisive as Market Bosworth got the win they needed to keep their survival hopes alive.
The game started as so many others have done this season with the Bosie Boys being caught off guard within the first few minutes. West Bridgford’s centre avoided all the attempted tackles and ran in a try under the posts which was duly converted to put the opposition seven points up right at the start.
However this was not an indication of the things to come as Bosworth sprang into life immediately and from a scrum on West Bridgford’s line, wing forward Jerry Bennett dived over to open the scoring for Bosworth. The home side continued to put the pressure on and when West Bridgford nately Hinckley were not able to close the gap and Highway extended their lead further to run out 49-26 winners. Player of the match was awarded to WA Sadie Baker.
Hinckley C travelled to Offchurch this week for their match and ran out 43-26 winners. were weakened, by a visit to the sin bin for their hooker, Bosworth increased their score when centre Harry Milner ran in a super try under the posts which Harris converted.
Taking advantage of superior numbers, wing forward Jack McWhirter was able to dive over for Bosworth’s third try with the conversion going wide due to the gusting wind. The return of the player from the sin bin gave West Bridgford renewed energy and they were able to score immediately, the conversion attempt rebounding off the upright. Within minutes West Bridgford repeated the same attack this time a solo effort from their scrum half running in a try from his own 22 and then converting.
Just as half time approached Bosworth created a rolling maul which travelled most of the length of the pitch ending up with scrum half Chris Harding diving over
The first quarter was tough for Hinckley with a few wild balls going astray but they settled and the team tried to regroup.
The defence, again, worked tirelessly throughout the match giving Offchurch no room for errors. Centre court struggled to get into free space with tight defending from Offchurch, but worked hard to gain the upper hand. Accurate shooting from the attackers allowed Hinckley to pull away from the opposition. Hinckley player of the match, Centre Lucy Masser.
It was frustrating final game of the season for Hinckley E away at Alvis.
Missing a key player due to injury Hinckley had to change their attacking formation. The first quarter was evenly matched finishing 9-9. Alvis made changes to their defence in the next quarter making it more difficult for Hinckley’s attack, scoring several goals in succession. Despite Hinckley’s defence working very hard as usual, getting many turnovers, unfortunately they let it slip in the third quarter and their heads went down, messing up on centre passes with second balls intercepted also the attack failed to score many goals. The final score was 39–22 to Alvis with player of the match going once again to Centre Liz Newman. for the bonus point try and a three point lead.
Most of the second half was entertaining but uneventful if its points that you expect. Both teams played good open rugby with Bosworth putting huge pressure on the opposition but it was West Bridgford who eventually broke through to score in the corner for their bonus point try and taking the lead by two points. With the seconds ticking away the referee awarded Bosworth a penalty mid pitch but on the half way line and indicated that it would be the last action in the game. Harris’ kick sailed over the crossbar to give Bosworth a deserved win and five league points but due to four other games in the league this weekend all finishing with similar results no change in the league position was forthcoming.
This week Market Bosworth are at home to Matlock (3pm).