After a difficult first match against the poly, Newcastle knew that they were going to have to step up their game in order to challenge their undefeated opponents. They started strong and worked well as a team, moving the ball fluidly up the court and into the safe hands of Emily Hollingworth at goal shooter.
With the scores still close after the first quarter, Newcastle knew that the key to winning was staying positive and keeping focused. The team kept up their great performance as centre Fiona Dewar created good space all down the court and managed to make some crucial interceptions.
But the poly’s incredible shooters didn’t miss a single shot and by half time Northumbria were up by eight goals. Despite the goal difference, Newcastle were still determined to battle against the poly and with the spectacular defence from Annie Bolle-Jones the team managed to get within five goals going into the last fifteen minutes.
But unfortunately in the last few minutes Northumbria managed to pull away leaving Newcastle fighting until the very last second.
With the 2nd team anxious for a win they came out strong against Durham. Wing defence Chloe Tindale did a great job setting the pace for her team as she helped move the ball out of defence and supported her whole team.
The team’s positive communication meant that by the end of the first quarter they were level with Durham and ready to try and take the lead. In the second quarter the centre court combination of Laura Brady and Frankee Bonnett worked well but the team struggled to make the most of their turnovers and unfortunately Durham were converting any error made.
By half time Durham had taken the lead but the team pulled together and with Olivia Gordon’s (player of the match) accurate shooting, managed to lower the goal difference. All was going well until the last ten minutes of the game when after a run of lost centre passes and trouble getting the ball into the attacking third, Durham managed to increase their lead and take the game.
Despite Newcastle having to face their own team, both the 3s and 4s were still as driven to take the victory as any other week. The first quarter began and it was neck and neck with both teams fighting to keep every ball but as the minutes went on, the strong defensive play by Ella Peartree meant that the 4th team were able to take the lead.
In the second quarter, after making lots of changes to the line-up, the 3rds let their heads drop. With the 4th team applying constant pressure and utilising every mistake that the 3rd team made, they managed to increase their goal difference. In the second half the 3rd team managed to refocus, with Ellie Rutter moving well in centre court and they pulled back but still couldn’t manage to catch up with the losses they had made earlier.
