Oldham made the trip down south to Essex to take on third from bottom New Cambell, in what could potentially be a banana skin fixture. The opposition featured former Northern Thunder shooter Lynsey Armitage, who with height and experience is a valuable weapon. Oldham were without a specialist Centre with Laura Malcolm on international duty and Bath Cobden injured, and so Emma Dovey stepped up and moved out of defence.
The game started goal for goal and it took a little time for Oldham to move through the gears, feeders Emma Dovey and captain Rachel Henry took the game by the scruff of the neck and drove the ball through the court with tenacity and Oldham started to tick. They delivered the ball to Krista Enziano and Kathryn Turner with accuracy and finesse and the shooters were consistent in putting the ball through the net. The defence got in on the act and put the Cambell attack under pressure, turning the ball over and sending it back down court. Oldham stormed the quarter 23-12 and the game was looking particularly one-sided.
Cambell were forced into making early changes to stem the flow of goals and to give them their due they came out fighting and were not going to give up on the game at such an early stage. To compound this Oldham took their foot off the pedal, they gave the Cambell attack far too much room and they found their range to shooter Armitage. Oldham lost the quarter 15-13.
At half time Oldham made changes with Maria McAndrew coming on at centre with Dovey moving back to wing defence to give the circle some protection adding some height. Alice Travis entered the fray at goal attack, giving Kathryn Turner a rest, but the changes had little impact as Oldham continued in the same vein. The shooting statistics suffered too and New Cambell sniffed a chance to get back into the game. With two minutes to go in the quarter Enziano went down with a leg injury and Oldham were forced into a quick change. Turner returned to goal attack while Travis moved up to shooter. Cambell sneaked the quarter 13-12 and trimmed Oldham’s lead to just eight goals 48-40.
In the final quarter Oldham tweaked their line up with Rachael Taylor coming back on at wing defence, Dovey moving back to centre and McAndrew moving to wing attack. The changes worked and Oldham showed some character to find the form of the first quarter. Cambell started to miss shots and defenders Carter and Webster were strong on rebounds and pounced on any loose balls. Taylor and Dovey were strong in the middle and they too made several classy turnovers. McAndrew quickly found the range to Turner and Travis and they turned the game on its head. Once again the goals flowed and Oldham took the final quarter 21-14 with a final score of 69-54.
Coach Debbie Hallas commented: “It was a good win but we lacked consistency throughout the game. This is something we are working on, however, I was pleased with the character they showed under pressure to play themselves out of what could have been a tricky position. My player of the match today was Emma Dovey who despite playing out of position showed quality in attack and defence.
Squad: Sarah Carter, Georgie Webster, Rachael Taylor, Emma Dovey, Rachel Henry, Kathryn Turner, Krista Enziano, Alice Travis, Maria McAndrew, Debbie Hallas
Oldham remain top of the league with a game in hand, next week they play host to bottom of the table Leyton from London.
LEAGUE TABLE:
http://www.englandnetball.co.uk/competitions/2012-13/premier-league-1/standings_60
The game started goal for goal and it took a little time for Oldham to move through the gears, feeders Emma Dovey and captain Rachel Henry took the game by the scruff of the neck and drove the ball through the court with tenacity and Oldham started to tick. They delivered the ball to Krista Enziano and Kathryn Turner with accuracy and finesse and the shooters were consistent in putting the ball through the net. The defence got in on the act and put the Cambell attack under pressure, turning the ball over and sending it back down court. Oldham stormed the quarter 23-12 and the game was looking particularly one-sided.
Cambell were forced into making early changes to stem the flow of goals and to give them their due they came out fighting and were not going to give up on the game at such an early stage. To compound this Oldham took their foot off the pedal, they gave the Cambell attack far too much room and they found their range to shooter Armitage. Oldham lost the quarter 15-13.
At half time Oldham made changes with Maria McAndrew coming on at centre with Dovey moving back to wing defence to give the circle some protection adding some height. Alice Travis entered the fray at goal attack, giving Kathryn Turner a rest, but the changes had little impact as Oldham continued in the same vein. The shooting statistics suffered too and New Cambell sniffed a chance to get back into the game. With two minutes to go in the quarter Enziano went down with a leg injury and Oldham were forced into a quick change. Turner returned to goal attack while Travis moved up to shooter. Cambell sneaked the quarter 13-12 and trimmed Oldham’s lead to just eight goals 48-40.
In the final quarter Oldham tweaked their line up with Rachael Taylor coming back on at wing defence, Dovey moving back to centre and McAndrew moving to wing attack. The changes worked and Oldham showed some character to find the form of the first quarter. Cambell started to miss shots and defenders Carter and Webster were strong on rebounds and pounced on any loose balls. Taylor and Dovey were strong in the middle and they too made several classy turnovers. McAndrew quickly found the range to Turner and Travis and they turned the game on its head. Once again the goals flowed and Oldham took the final quarter 21-14 with a final score of 69-54.
Coach Debbie Hallas commented: “It was a good win but we lacked consistency throughout the game. This is something we are working on, however, I was pleased with the character they showed under pressure to play themselves out of what could have been a tricky position. My player of the match today was Emma Dovey who despite playing out of position showed quality in attack and defence.
Squad: Sarah Carter, Georgie Webster, Rachael Taylor, Emma Dovey, Rachel Henry, Kathryn Turner, Krista Enziano, Alice Travis, Maria McAndrew, Debbie Hallas
Oldham remain top of the league with a game in hand, next week they play host to bottom of the table Leyton from London.
LEAGUE TABLE:
http://www.englandnetball.co.uk/competitions/2012-13/premier-league-1/standings_60