GS Lucy Stevenson GA Amy Neild WA Rebecca Hope C Rachael Taylor WD Ellie Fitzhugh GD Gemma McDermott GK Jess Dale Bench: Amelia Hall Quarter scores (Oldham scores first) 1st qr 14-9 2nd qr 14-7 3rd qr 14-7 4th qr 13-9 MOM Rachael Taylor | With many games on today and Super league being in full flow, Oldham arrived with a small squad for this game against Warrington. Oldham’s Prem 1 squad included some of the regular North West Prem players. It’s a great opportunity for them players to play in the Prem 1 division. This allowed some of the youngsters to play for the NW Prem squad for this game and it just shows how much strength in depth Oldham has. There are some ‘ones to watch’ that are coming through at the moment. Oldham started the quarter slow allowing Warrington to score the first goal of the game. The team were struggling to get used to the confusing court lines in the first few minutes, which caused a few offside calls. Oldham allowed Warrington to apply a lot of pressure on them when they were attacking and this forced many errors for the red and blue side. It was goal for goal on many occasions in the quarter until Oldham took the game in their hands and scored 5 goals in a row, which put them in the lead. When Lucy Stevenson got the ball there’s was no doubt she was going to score. Stevenson scored an impressive 14 out of 14 in the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, Oldham were in the lead 14-9. |
Changes saw Amelia Hall take the court at GA for Oldham and Amy Neild went to WA. Oldham quickly adapted to the combination and prevented Warrington from putting them under as much pressure as they did in the first quarter. There was some fast netball played by Oldham, particularly by Taylor and Hall, at times it needed controlling, but other times it was unstoppable. Oldham were on the ball when it came to getting the rebounds from missed shots, Jess Dale and Gemma McDermott knew there was only one team going to get to that ball first and that was Oldham!
At times Oldham were getting into the same space when in attack and they needed to change their game and look for the free space. There was also some errors creeping in the circle and with Warrington’s pressure on Stevenson it was difficult to get the ball in there. With Hall’s speed and the teams patience they worked together and made quick decisions. At the end of the second quarter Oldham matched their score in the first quarter and scored a further 14 goals taking the lead to 28 goals to 16.
At times Oldham were getting into the same space when in attack and they needed to change their game and look for the free space. There was also some errors creeping in the circle and with Warrington’s pressure on Stevenson it was difficult to get the ball in there. With Hall’s speed and the teams patience they worked together and made quick decisions. At the end of the second quarter Oldham matched their score in the first quarter and scored a further 14 goals taking the lead to 28 goals to 16.
Going into the third quarter Rebecca Hope came on at C and Rachael Taylor came to WD. Oldham hit Warrington hard and stopped them from scoring any goals between Oldham’s first 9! Taylor created a wall on Warrington’s Centre Pass that no one was getting through and with Oldham’s defence duo Dale and McDermott turning the ball over several times, Oldham were on top. The tables turned at one point in the quarter and Oldham allowed Warrington to get 4 goals in a row, but an interception from the flying Dale stopped that run and Oldham came back at them. At the end of the third quarter Oldham were in the lead still scoring another 14 goals taking the score to 42-23.
Going into the final quarter Ellie Fitzhugh came back on at WD. There was some ball placement issues from Oldham, which soon changed and with some excellent turnovers by the team Oldham continued to stretch their lead. Oldham didn’t score off all their turnovers though. Stevenson continued to score goals under pressure and only missed 3 in the whole game! Final score 55-32.
Suzy Ashworth quote: “I am so pleased with the performance today. At times, it wasn’t pretty, but then at other times there was some excellent netball played. I am impressed with the youngsters and how they come into the squad and adapt quickly and step up to the mark. Lucy Stevenson scored 45 out of 48 goals today and was under a lot of pressure, that is impressive. I am pleased everyone got to play at least 3 quarters today and it leaves in a good position for the next game against Leyland in a few weeks.”
Next game is against Leyland on Sunday 1st March 2015
Suzy Ashworth quote: “I am so pleased with the performance today. At times, it wasn’t pretty, but then at other times there was some excellent netball played. I am impressed with the youngsters and how they come into the squad and adapt quickly and step up to the mark. Lucy Stevenson scored 45 out of 48 goals today and was under a lot of pressure, that is impressive. I am pleased everyone got to play at least 3 quarters today and it leaves in a good position for the next game against Leyland in a few weeks.”
Next game is against Leyland on Sunday 1st March 2015