2nd VII v Trent College Lost 16-9

On a cold afternoon we travelled to Trent College for what turned out to be a very close match, despite having a skeletal 7 players.

In the first quarter the whole team played well, particularly the defensive combination of Alice S (GK) and Francesca FH (GD). These girls worked very hard to ‘man mark’ their player and they were able to pick up a number of interceptions. The score after the first quarter was 3(SA) to 4(TC).

In the second quarter, Trent came back very strong and the score reflected this. By half time we were losing 5 to 9. Our defence again picked up some balls (Fran FH in particular), but these were quickly lost, often being thrown straight back to the opposition. It is really important that we use all these chances and we improve the basics; throwing and catching.

In the third quarter our play again became more fluid. In centre court Jess RS gave 100% effort and Ella N and Roxanne B worked much better together and the ball was given to our shooters regularly, Lucy R (now GA) and Hannah S (now GS). Lucy R was good at directing the play and she encouraged the others too. We gained more goals than Trent and the score was now back to 9(SA) to 12(TC).

Before the last quarter the team talk was positive and everyone was keen to do well, but unfortunately it didn’t work out that way. Trent again came back strong and were able to offer more opportunities to their shooters. The final score was 9(SA) to 16(TC).

There are plenty of positives to take from this game. The team spirit was very positive as was the work rate. However, we must sharpen up on the basics and get used to driving forward for the ball in the different channels on the court.

The players of the match were Lucy R and Fran F.