Oldham Netball Club's premier league side lost their second game of the season on Sunday, falling to roses rivals Leeds Athletic 62-47.
Oldham started slowly, struggling to counteract the high feeds into Leeds 6'6” shooter Timmy Cato. Oldham’s shooters were also struggling to find a way through the physical Leeds defence. Despite this it was going goal for goal until the last few minutes of the quarter when Leeds edged ahead to 12-16.
Coach Hallas moved Susie Armstrong into GK for the second with Jodie Gibson, Georgie Webster and Beth Cobden moving forward a position with Rachel Henry dropping to the bench. The changes worked for Oldham, with Armstrong doing a solid job on the giant shooter, allowing Oldham to claw it back to 17-17. The Oldham shooters were beginning to find more space and some solid feeds from Cobden and Maria McAndrew with cool shooting from Alice Travis and Kathryn Turner allowed Oldham to take the lead at the half 29-26.
One change at the break saw Amy Clinton replace Travis. Unfortunately for Oldham the Leeds team stepped up a gear and their Superleague experience plus the unstoppable long bombs to their shooter proved too much, with Oldham's play breaking down through the mid court and attack. Leeds took the quarter by 10 to lead 38-45 at the break.
Travis was brought back on for the last quarter, but Oldham just couldn't find the flow in this game. A few questionable calls from the umpire had the bench on their feet but Leeds kept their composure taking the game away from the home side. The final quarter was 9-17 to Leeds for a comprehensive win.
Oldham played some good netball in patches but it wasn't enough to take the win.
Coach Hallas said, "We played some great netball in the first half and counteracted their height advantage in the circle by breaking down the play before it got there. However, we let Leeds go on a seven goal run without reply in the third and lost our consistency. Once Leeds forged a lead they grew in confidence and the ball was going into the circle from everywhere. It was great experience for 16 years old Susie Armstrong to play against Cato and she did really well. Jodie Gibson and Georgie Webster also stood out with Georgie Webster taking the player of the match award. We now need to consolidate with three games left and we need to take 11 points from a possible 15 to retain our Premier League title.”
Starting seven: GS A Travis GA K Turner WA M McAndrew C R Henry WD B Cobden GD G Webster GK J Gibson. Bench A Clinton T Cullen S Armstrong.
Oldham started slowly, struggling to counteract the high feeds into Leeds 6'6” shooter Timmy Cato. Oldham’s shooters were also struggling to find a way through the physical Leeds defence. Despite this it was going goal for goal until the last few minutes of the quarter when Leeds edged ahead to 12-16.
Coach Hallas moved Susie Armstrong into GK for the second with Jodie Gibson, Georgie Webster and Beth Cobden moving forward a position with Rachel Henry dropping to the bench. The changes worked for Oldham, with Armstrong doing a solid job on the giant shooter, allowing Oldham to claw it back to 17-17. The Oldham shooters were beginning to find more space and some solid feeds from Cobden and Maria McAndrew with cool shooting from Alice Travis and Kathryn Turner allowed Oldham to take the lead at the half 29-26.
One change at the break saw Amy Clinton replace Travis. Unfortunately for Oldham the Leeds team stepped up a gear and their Superleague experience plus the unstoppable long bombs to their shooter proved too much, with Oldham's play breaking down through the mid court and attack. Leeds took the quarter by 10 to lead 38-45 at the break.
Travis was brought back on for the last quarter, but Oldham just couldn't find the flow in this game. A few questionable calls from the umpire had the bench on their feet but Leeds kept their composure taking the game away from the home side. The final quarter was 9-17 to Leeds for a comprehensive win.
Oldham played some good netball in patches but it wasn't enough to take the win.
Coach Hallas said, "We played some great netball in the first half and counteracted their height advantage in the circle by breaking down the play before it got there. However, we let Leeds go on a seven goal run without reply in the third and lost our consistency. Once Leeds forged a lead they grew in confidence and the ball was going into the circle from everywhere. It was great experience for 16 years old Susie Armstrong to play against Cato and she did really well. Jodie Gibson and Georgie Webster also stood out with Georgie Webster taking the player of the match award. We now need to consolidate with three games left and we need to take 11 points from a possible 15 to retain our Premier League title.”
Starting seven: GS A Travis GA K Turner WA M McAndrew C R Henry WD B Cobden GD G Webster GK J Gibson. Bench A Clinton T Cullen S Armstrong.