Netball Round-Up

The girls from Jesus show no sign that they are prepared to relinquish their crown any time soon. Teams had to battle tough conditions in the opening round of matches, but it is clear that it is going to take more than a stiff breeze to knock the Jesus girls off their winning stride. The rest of the league will have to make sure they are on top form if they are to prevent Jesus from doing the double this year.

Jesus 36-9 Emmanuel

Unfortunately league debutants Emma were no match for the reigning champions who put in a commanding performance to make a mark in the first game of the season. Both in attack and defence, Jesus put in an accomplished display with Alice Bush and Charlotte Wood the stand-outs on the Jesus side. Emma were not helped as they lacked key players, but they will be hoping they can put this match down to experience.

Newnham 11-5 St John’s

Newnham put in a performance to suggest they may be able to do one better as they finished runners up last term making the most of their opportunities in tricky conditions, establishing a 4-1 lead in the first quarter. They also proved strong in defence with brilliant interceptions from Newnham’s Sam Savie and Leah Adeniran keeping the ball out of the John’s attacking circle and enabled their side to extend their lead to 9-2 by the end of the third quarter. John’s rallied to come back at Newnham in the final quarter, working the ball well into the circle, however this proved to be too late with the final score ending up at 11-5.

Murray Edwards 26-5 St Catherine’s

The Muz girls put in a strong league performance to dispatch Catz who were in their first outing in the first division. Catz were shown a bit of a lesson by the Muz girls who had no trouble scoring quick goals off successive centres. Fine work by around the D by shooters Sarah Sheldon and Gina Dalgleish kept the scoreboard ticking over. However Catz haven’t been promoted for nothing, winning all their matches last term, and showed some resilience by maintain some pressure which was helped by a tactical reshuffle.

Muz on the offensive

Downing 8-17 Queens’

The league looks set to be as competitive as ever and Queens’ will hope they can continue their form from last term to stake a claim for the top. They also kicked off their league campaign with an away victory at Downing. Queens’ crucially got their noses out during the first quarter and were able to maintain their advantage throughout the match. Slick shooting meant they were able to outscore Downing in each quarter. However Downing will be able to take some positives out of the first game of the season. Going forward, Downing produced some lovely movement by the attacking members of the team about and across the shooting circle with some successful weaving between the shooters Callista Harris and Fran Thornton.

Photos courtesy of Mayo Beono