Oldham Netball Club's Premier League side had a tough journey away from home to face arch rivals Leeds Athletic. This was the first game in the second round of fixtures and Oldham were depleted in numbers due to a national selection weekend.
Oldham notoriously had a slow start to the game and in the first five minutes the home side went on a four goal run without an answer from Oldham. However, the travelling side answered well to this with some great through court pressure. This forced Leeds into mistakes and Krista Enziano and Kathryn Turner were finding the net well with their opportunities. At the end of the first quarter Oldham had edged into a lead 11-8.
Oldham notoriously had a slow start to the game and in the first five minutes the home side went on a four goal run without an answer from Oldham. However, the travelling side answered well to this with some great through court pressure. This forced Leeds into mistakes and Krista Enziano and Kathryn Turner were finding the net well with their opportunities. At the end of the first quarter Oldham had edged into a lead 11-8.
Oldham knew Leeds would come back at them hard in the second quarter and it was crucial that Oldham kept their momentum going. Oldham debutant Sara Hale was having an impact in defence and attack, linking the ball through the court with dominance. There were great flashes of speed in attack from Maria McAndrew and Rachel Henry which the Leeds defence found hard to deal with. The second quarter saw Oldham limit Leeds to just six goals and Oldham led 27-14 at half time.
Coach Debbie Hallas opted to make some changes at the break, bringing 16 year old debutant Amy Clinton to Goal Shooter and the returning Rachael Taylor to wing defence. The changes took a while to settle and the quarter saw some scrappy patches of play from both teams. However, the last five minutes proved vital for Oldham as they piled some more goals on the board and the quarter ended with Oldham ahead 40-25.
Going into the last quarter Krista Enziano returned to Goal Shooter and continued her dominance against her kiwi opponent. Again the quarter was scrappy with mistakes being made throughout the whole court from both teams. Once again Oldham showed they could move swiftly through the gears part way through the last quarter the away side took charge and went on an eight goal flurry without a response from the home side. It was a great team performance and another victory from the Premier League One reigning champions.
Coach Debbie Hallas said: “It was great to welcome Rachael Taylor back into the Premier League side after a long injury lay off, although I am not sure she was overly happy that it was on the same court she originally injured herself. As far as our performance goes today, I think I should stay in the changing room for the first ten minutes of the game until we start to play.”
“To say we were without seven of our squad that were trialling for England it shows our strength in depth, we were helped by the experienced Sara Hale who put in a very solid performance while Rachel Henry was all over the court today and was our player of the match.”
Team- GS K Enziano GA K Turner WA M McAndrew C R Henry WD G Marshall GD S Hale GK K Almond. Subs R Taylor A Clinton
This was Oldham’s last fixture before the new year and will travel to Hucclecote on the 12th January.
Coach Debbie Hallas opted to make some changes at the break, bringing 16 year old debutant Amy Clinton to Goal Shooter and the returning Rachael Taylor to wing defence. The changes took a while to settle and the quarter saw some scrappy patches of play from both teams. However, the last five minutes proved vital for Oldham as they piled some more goals on the board and the quarter ended with Oldham ahead 40-25.
Going into the last quarter Krista Enziano returned to Goal Shooter and continued her dominance against her kiwi opponent. Again the quarter was scrappy with mistakes being made throughout the whole court from both teams. Once again Oldham showed they could move swiftly through the gears part way through the last quarter the away side took charge and went on an eight goal flurry without a response from the home side. It was a great team performance and another victory from the Premier League One reigning champions.
Coach Debbie Hallas said: “It was great to welcome Rachael Taylor back into the Premier League side after a long injury lay off, although I am not sure she was overly happy that it was on the same court she originally injured herself. As far as our performance goes today, I think I should stay in the changing room for the first ten minutes of the game until we start to play.”
“To say we were without seven of our squad that were trialling for England it shows our strength in depth, we were helped by the experienced Sara Hale who put in a very solid performance while Rachel Henry was all over the court today and was our player of the match.”
Team- GS K Enziano GA K Turner WA M McAndrew C R Henry WD G Marshall GD S Hale GK K Almond. Subs R Taylor A Clinton
This was Oldham’s last fixture before the new year and will travel to Hucclecote on the 12th January.