With Oldham’s last game rearranged against Trafford, Oldham were ready for the tough game expected against Warrington. There were a few new faces in their squad due to some players playing up for the Prem squad. Oldham took their first centre to goal with a promising start, but unfortunately it didn’t continue as Oldham could not get the ball into the shooting circle. Warrington scored 7 goals before Oldham got their second on the score sheet. Oldham couldn’t take possession off Warrington and they continued to pull away from the red and blue side. At the end of the first quarter Warrington were in the lead 14 goals to 7.
Oldham went into this game on the back of a very hard and not a great performance against Tameside the week before. It was important Oldham bounced back with a new approach to the game. Oldham had a larger squad this week with 11 players. Oldham started well and scored off their first centre pass. The game kept switching as to who had the control, Oldham would scroe 3 goals in a row and then Blackpool would do the same and no team could break the 3 goals down. However Oldham managed to pull out a much better performance this quarter and crept into the lead 17-10.
Going into the second quarter Kimberley Meadows came on at GA and Amber Hazelton at WD. Both players settled into the game well and Oldham maintained the lead. A few errors did creep in during the game, but the defence continued to turn the ball over for the red and blue side. Oldham achieved 11 turnovers in this quarter many coming from the leader at the back Jess Dale. Lucy Stevenson was on fine form in the circle and did not miss one goal in this quarter. The score after the second quarter, Oldham managed to another 3 goals ahead taking the score to 30-20. Third quarter Stevenson and Meadows changed positions, Rachel Fitszimmons came on to GD and Rebecca Hope came on at C. Oldham still allowed errors creep into their game and the ball did not flow like it can for the red and blur side, but when they did get the ball into their shooters, they put the ball in the net. Oldham managed 3 goals in a row early in the quarter, which allowed them some breathing space. A solid performance from both teams and Oldham winning the third quarter by only one gaol took the score to 42-31. Final quarter Katie Bodha came back on at WD, Stevenson went back to GS and Sarah Brennan came back on at GA. Oldham settled in the game well and injected some speed into the game. Stevenson continued to be strong in the shooting circle and popping the ball into the net for Oldham. Bodha made an impact early on into the quarter and applied a lot of pressure on Blackpool’s WA, who throughout the game had been the main feeder. Oldham did not convert their turnovers, in fact they got 2 out of 8 of them to goal. However they won the fourth quarter by 3 goals again and made sure that Oldham won every quarter. Oldham won Blackpool by 12 last game and this game by 15 so it was a good solid performance. Final score 55-40. Suzy Ashworth quote: “I was happy that we won each quarter within this game and it was definitely an improvement from the last game against Tameside. We worked better as a team and stuck to the game plan. We have a lot of work to do in training on Thursday ready for another tough game against Trafford on Sunday”.
The first game against Tameside, Oldham managed a great score against them, beating them 74 goals to 37. However Oldham knew it was going to be a different game today and that they had to be on top of their game. Oldham were slightly depleted in numbers and unfortunately, Victoria Austin was unable to even warm up due to a knee injury she suffered in training on Thursday. This left Oldham with only 9 players. Oldham lost the toss for the first centre, but managed to turn Tameside’s first centre over and was first on the scoring sheet. Oldham took their first centre straight to goal and went 2 goals up. The game was goal for goal in some parts and was already lining up to be a tough fought game. Oldham got 5 unanswered goals in this quarter, particularly as a result of some excellent feeds into the circle by Amy Neild, but Tameside just kept coming back at them. Oldham was leading the way only just within the first quarter 17-15.
Oldham introduced Kimberley Meadows at GA and Sarah Brennan went to WA. Oldham started the quarter well scoring the first 3 goals. Oldham got 3 early turnovers in the quarter and started to pull away from Tameside. However mistakes crept in for Oldham and allowed Tameside to come back at them scoring 3 goals in a row on two occasions. Oldham finished this quarter well scoring 5 unanswered goals taking the score to 31 – 26. Going into the third quarter Bodha came back on at WA and Rachel Fitzsimmons entered the court at GD. It was goal for goal again, until Tameside managed to get 3 goals in a row, which seemed to be a common occurrence. Oldham had 14 turnovers in this quarter and only scored off 2 of them! With missed shots and a lot of careless unforced errors, Oldham allowed Tameside to come right back into the game taking it back to within 2 goals. At the end of the third quarter Oldham were hanging in there with the score at 42 goals to 40. Final quarter could go either way and the pressure was on for both teams. Gemma McDermott came back on at GD and everything else stayed the same. With Tameside’s GA, Leia, dominating their attack it was important Oldham applied the pressure all the way through the court to support the defence. Tameside again got 3 and 4 goals in a row, without Oldham breaking their pattern of play. More errors were creeping in for Oldham and they began to panic with the ball. However after a very tough and well fought game Oldham managed to hold on to the lead and won the game by ONE goal! What a great game. Final score 55-54. Suzy Ashworth quote: “I am very pleased that the game is over! What a tense game. I don’t think we were on form as a team and I think our game plan just went out of the window when we got on court. All credit to Tameside they played very well, particularly Leia at GA was outstanding. I thought our defence unit worked very well and turned ball over, in fact we had 43 turnovers throughout the game, but unfortunately we just couldn’t convert them, which let us down. There were some moments of brilliance such as Amy Neild’s feeds into the circle and some interceptions made by Jess Dale, these kept us in the game and we managed a win. I am proud of the girls at keeping going all the way to the end. We have another tough game next weekend against Blackpool.”
Going into the second quarter, Katie Bodha came on at WA. Oldham continued their fast start and made it really difficult for Trafford’s defence. Trafford’s shooters were on point, scoring from anywhere in the circle, so were Oldham’s shooters, both scoring 100% of their shots. Oldham continued to turn the ball over and making it very difficult for Trafford’s attack to get out for centre passes. Unfortunately after only 5 minutes into the quarter, Rachael Taylor took a tumble and twisted her knee and had to come off. Ellie Fitzhugh made her debut and replaced Taylor at WD. Oldham took a while to settle back in, but they soon did and another impressive performance by the red and blue side, taking the overall score to 35-17.
Third quarter and coach Ashworth made some changes, Fitzhugh went to GD, Ebbie Danson-Chappell came to C, Kimberley Meadows to GS, Lucy Stevenson to GA, Bodha to WD and Victoria Austin came back on at WA. With a lot of changes, it could have affected the structure of Oldham’s play, but it didn’t, Oldham got into the game straight away and again we saw the turn overs coming in especially from Armstrong at GK. Oldham played some fast netball down court and with their quick turns began to release the ball and get it to our shooters. Oldham won the third quarter by 12 goals taking the score to 63-21. Fourth quarter, Gemma McDermott came back on at GK, Armstrong came out to GD, Fitzhugh to WD, Bodha to C, Danson-Chappell to WA and Austin to GA. Oldham had some moments of brilliance and also some moment of errors. They allowed Trafford to play their game at parts, but Oldham managed to hang in there until the final whistle and win the last quarter by 2 goals, taking the final score to 64-32. Suzy Ashworth quote: “I was really pleased with everyone who played today, they all put out a performance. I was really impressed with how many ‘team’ turnovers we got today due to the whole team forcing errors. Well done to Susie Armstrong she had a cracking game and was first to the rebounds and turned the ball over 12 times throughout the game. We hope Rachael Taylor has a speedy recovery with her knee and gets back soon”. Next game will be a tough one against Warrington on Saturday 7th November away.
Coaches Ashworth and Hazelton made one change going into the second quarter with Gemma McDermott coming on court as GD. Oldham made it difficult for LSA to get out on their centre pass with McDermott, Rachael Taylor and Taylor Cullen creating a superb wall. Oldham had a rocky patch in the second quarter and not taking their chances from turnovers. Oldham needed to add a bit more pressure to their defensive game to stop LSA flow of play. However the team remained in the league and won the second quarter by 6 goals taking the score to 26- 13. The coaches made some more changes this quarter; Susie Armstrong came on at GK, Rebecca Hope at C, Victoria Austin WA and Sarah Brennan to GA. Oldham started this quarter scoring 5 unanswered goal, which was pleasing to the coaches. Apart from Clinton’s first shot, she never missed in this quarter. Cullen continued to impress with gaining touches, tips and interceptions. In fact Cullen got 5 turnovers in this quarter. An impressive performance and Oldham widened the gap making the score 43-19. In the fourth quarter Abigail Tyrell came on at GK, Susie Armstrong came on at GD and Taylor replaced Cullen at WD. Oldham scored 13 goals in a row without LSA scoring a goal. The defence duo were having a real impact on Oldham’s performanc adding a lot of pressure on the LSA attacking game. Armstrong came out with the interception of the game in this quarter, which made coach Hazelton stand up and applaud. The shooters Clinton and Brennan continued to find the net with confidence. Oldham managed to gain 18 turnovers in this quarter. Final score 64-25. Suzy Ashworth quote: “What a fantastic performance by everyone today. It was great to have 12 and all came on and had an impact, which was fantastic. There were moments of gasps from Pam and I on the bench, especially some amazing passing and interceptions made. Excellent day all round” Next game is against Bramhall on Sunday 8th March 2015
Oldham were going into this game with confidence after beating Chester last weekend. It is always going to be a tough fixture against Tameside and the girls knew they had to put a great performance out today. Oldham looked strong with the squad they arrived with and were hoping that they would take their strengths on to the court. It was the last game of the year until January so Oldham wanted to finish on a high. The first quarter Oldham started slow, mistakes creeping in and the attack taking a bit of time to gel and work together. A couple of mistakes such as repossession and cross court balls being intercepted it was goal for goal. There was no stopping the Tameside shooting duo who were shooting very well. Oldham defended Tameside centre pass very well creating a solid wall, which allowed Oldham to convert on Tameside’s centre passes and gain a lead. With some superb defending by Victoria Austin and some great feeds into the circle made by Amy Neild, Oldham started to pull away and won the first quarter 17-9.
|
Archives
March 2017
|