Windy conditions sees Hinckley struggle in home game against Leamington
HINCKLEY A ladies netball team hosted Leamington B this Saturday which was an unbelievably windy morning! Both teams had full squads and were looking for important points to keep division 1 as close as ever.
Hinckley started as they played their previous game and wanted to come out promptly, start well and gain a lead against the recently demoted, good side Leamington B. Hinckley A started well winning the first quarter 11-10, they were linking up aspects of their play well down court, with the defence working hard and the attack being dynamic.
The wind had a big impact and meant that both teams had to adapt their style of play. This brought a few silly mistakes for both teams and a few ball handling errors which meant the opposition team count counter. Going into the second quarter unfortunately, Hinckley hit a slight lull and at times weren’t as agile and had as much umph as the first and or Leamington. Despite this, Hinckley A picked themselves up towards the end of the quar- ter and started to ensure that they were looking after the ball, being tight to their players, applying pressure and attempting to make interceptions, 18-17 to Leamington. The third quarter brought more end to end action, Hinckley As played some wonderful netball, fantastic link up play from centre court with Ashleigh oakes and Nicola Sanders giving the shooters something to work with and act upon. The defence tightened up and figured out the Leamington’s attacking players, until an injury for them meant a substitution had to be made. Unfortunately Leamington upped their lead slightly after a very close quarter to 31-26. The last quarter brought more change to the versatile Hinckley A team with players moving in attack and defence to try and apply more pressure to get within 5, draw or take the lead. However, Leamington matched this and were just as effective. Hinckley As worked tirelessly and tried everything possible to pull back the lead and at one point were back within 3. The defence were getting interceptions and turning over balls for the attack to make the most of which resulted in numerous goals for Hinckley A. Despite the tremendous effort and different combinations, there was nothing unfortunately Hinckley could do to narrow the gap. Final score Leamington B 41-35 Hinckley A. POM was Carmen Whitaker who played WA, GA and GS.
Hinckley B team had a close game on Saturday against Arley’s Angels. The teams were evenly matched and the scoreline was goal for goal in the first half. As the wind picked up in the third quarter, Arley’s were quicker to adapt and their shooters maintained their precision despite tight defence from Hinckley and ended the quarter with a six goal lead. Hinckley fought hard in the last quarter, narrowing the gap but unfortunately couldn’t quite turn it around, eventually losing 33-35. Player of the match went to Goal Attack Emily Harrison.
Hinckley D played Griff & Coton C away. Hinckley worked well at the start to finish the first quarter only 2 goals down. The second quarter continued with strong winds affecting play. The tall Griff defence meant they were quick to intercept any rebounds off the posts resulting in Hinckley scoring 7 against their 13.
Hinckley remained positive going into the second half of the game whilst Griff made changes to their team, but in the third quarter Griffs attack was on point and their defenders thwarted some passes into the circle. The third quarter finished with Griff winning 31-18. Some fantastic long shots from Imogen Banton and Lucy Ibbetson meant ensured the final quarter was Hinckley’s strongest. Good team work and communication meant Griff struggled to continue their high scoring streak. Final score was 37-25 to Griff but Hinckley came away feeling very positive after some excellent game play, truly demonstrating improvement over the season. Congratulations to Imogen Banton on player of the match.
It was another tough game for the Hinckley U14 girls against Stratford.
They went out with confidence and used the space well to bring the ball down the court. With some great interceptions in centre court and fab back up support at both circles. Player of the match - Ellie Calvert-collinson our own dodging dynamo.