Oldham 51 - Westmoreland 37
North West Champions League
Oldham travelled up to Appleby, Cumbria taking in the beautiful scenery en route, the snow still visible on the hills. Perhaps it was the cold that affected the girls in red and blue as it took them time to half time to move through the gears and start to perform.
In the first quarter, Oldham were struggling to connect all the way through the court and was allowing the young Westmoreland side to find their stride and settle well into the game. Oldham turned over nearly every one of Westmoreland's centres, but couldn't score off their own. Early on mid-courter Lucy Shepherd suffered an ankle injury, which forced Oldham to make a change, Amy Neild, after recently returning to club action, moved to centre and Eleanor Fellows came at wing defence. Oldham barely kept their cold noses ahead and won the quarter 13-11.
In an attempt to change up the game, coach Suzy Ashworth brought onRachel Fitzsimmons at goal keeper. Oldham started the quarter well scoring four unanswered goals. However, they allowed Westmoreland to complete two consecutive goals after they turned the ball over. The shooting from both Isobel Hallam and Kim Meadows was superb, both scoring 100% of their shots but there was simply not enough service to them. Oldham only managed to win the quarter by one goal and took the score to 22-19 at half time.
North West Champions League
Oldham travelled up to Appleby, Cumbria taking in the beautiful scenery en route, the snow still visible on the hills. Perhaps it was the cold that affected the girls in red and blue as it took them time to half time to move through the gears and start to perform.
In the first quarter, Oldham were struggling to connect all the way through the court and was allowing the young Westmoreland side to find their stride and settle well into the game. Oldham turned over nearly every one of Westmoreland's centres, but couldn't score off their own. Early on mid-courter Lucy Shepherd suffered an ankle injury, which forced Oldham to make a change, Amy Neild, after recently returning to club action, moved to centre and Eleanor Fellows came at wing defence. Oldham barely kept their cold noses ahead and won the quarter 13-11.
In an attempt to change up the game, coach Suzy Ashworth brought onRachel Fitzsimmons at goal keeper. Oldham started the quarter well scoring four unanswered goals. However, they allowed Westmoreland to complete two consecutive goals after they turned the ball over. The shooting from both Isobel Hallam and Kim Meadows was superb, both scoring 100% of their shots but there was simply not enough service to them. Oldham only managed to win the quarter by one goal and took the score to 22-19 at half time.
Mixing it up once again Ashworth rang the changes with Sarah Brennan introduced at goal attack, Fellows moved to wing attack, Shepherd was able to return to the court at centre and Zoe Malinder to wing defence. The quarter went goal for goal for a while, but Oldham definitely looked more connected in attack and with Fellows speed and determination to get free, Oldham began to build a lead. The defence trio of Malinder, Fitzsimmons and Amber Hazelton were proving a force to be reckoned with ensuring that the Westmoreland attack were under constant pressure. Oldham scored seven unanswered goals as they started a roll. Finally on fire Oldham took the game by the scruff of the neck and ended the third quarter 40-26 goals to the good.
Going into the final quarter Neild came back on at centre. The shooting duo again were accurate and scoring every opportunity. Oldham continued to work hard both in attack and defence and look more like a team, again they scored seven goals in a row at the start of the quarter. Fellows did not stop running for the full 15 minutes, always being there as an option and allowing the ball to flow straight to the shooters. Final score 57-31.
Coach Suzy Ashworth said: "It certainly was a game of two halves when we started to work as a team and not as individuals! There is some connection within the attack to be worked on at training, but there was some great play within the game and the defence worked great in their unit and made it difficult for the other team".
Team:
GS Isobel Hallam
GA Kim Meadows
WA Bryony Rhodes
C Lucy Shepherd
WD Amy Neild
GD Amber Hazelton
GK Zoe Mallinder
Sarah Brennan, Eleanor Fellows, Rachel Fitzsimmons
Shooting Stats:
Isobel Hallam 35/37 95%
Kim Meadows 8/8 100%
Sarah Brennan 12/13 92%
Going into the final quarter Neild came back on at centre. The shooting duo again were accurate and scoring every opportunity. Oldham continued to work hard both in attack and defence and look more like a team, again they scored seven goals in a row at the start of the quarter. Fellows did not stop running for the full 15 minutes, always being there as an option and allowing the ball to flow straight to the shooters. Final score 57-31.
Coach Suzy Ashworth said: "It certainly was a game of two halves when we started to work as a team and not as individuals! There is some connection within the attack to be worked on at training, but there was some great play within the game and the defence worked great in their unit and made it difficult for the other team".
Team:
GS Isobel Hallam
GA Kim Meadows
WA Bryony Rhodes
C Lucy Shepherd
WD Amy Neild
GD Amber Hazelton
GK Zoe Mallinder
Sarah Brennan, Eleanor Fellows, Rachel Fitzsimmons
Shooting Stats:
Isobel Hallam 35/37 95%
Kim Meadows 8/8 100%
Sarah Brennan 12/13 92%