Sacred Heart B keen but unlucky again

Press, 24 June 1985, Page 26

Sacred Heart B keen but unlucky again

Cold, unpleasant conditions and injuries were the dominant features of the eighth round of the Trusteebank senior netball competition at the South Hagley courts on Saturday. On top of this many teams were forced to bring in replacements because of sickness, thus slowing down the pace in many games and acting as a great leveller. If there was ever an award for the unluckiest team of the day Sacred Heart B would have won it hands down as a result of its last two matches.

Sacred Heart B, yet to notch up a win, is obviously very keen and determined to improve its standing. The previous Saturday it had lost to South Brighton by only one goal in a very tense, exciting match and this time it lost to St Nicholas B by two goals in an equally gripping encounter. All other matches went as predicted with a fine performance from Riccarton against Hagley and from South Brighton in its game against Teachers’ College. Points; Sacred Heart A 16, St Nicholas A 16, Hagley 12, Riccarton 8, Burnside 8, South Brighton 8, St Nicholas B 6, Technical 4, Teachers’ College 2, Sacred Hert B 0. St Nicholas A 58, Technical 28 Technical started off particularly well in this match, keen to score as many goals as

possible before St Nicholas A settled into a rhythm. As expected, St Nicholas soon raced away to a comfortable lead, overwhelming its opponents with its superior passing and shooting. St Nicholas’ regular centre, Lynne McLennan, was still showing signs of her injury, and as a result, the centre for St Nicholas’s B team. Barbera Shaw, was brought in. Shaw put on a fine display, and her previous experience of playing for the A team made her the obvious choice and she looked relaxed and confident. At half-time St Nicholas led, 27-14. After the break it stepped up its attack, putting added pressure on Technical’s defence. Ann Davidson and April Irnemia netted goals in rapid succession and helped St Nicholas gain a 45-16 lead in a matter of minutes.

Technical’s confidence was boosted, however, when its shoots, Carolyn Stewart and Fiona Turner, netted four goals in a row. This had the effect of improving their defence and they thus prevented some of St Nicholas’ attempts becoming automatic goals. In the long run, however. St Nicholas had too big a lead to feel severely threatened and went on to win by a strong margin of 58-28. Umpires: J. Swift and K. Norris. Sacred Heart A 44, Burnside 22 Burnside always seem to start off well and this match was 'no exception. However, when facing such strong opposition, a lead is difficult to maintain. Sacred Heart wasted no time, and, with its team at full strength, played intelligently, manoeuvering the ball into the best possible position for its shoots. It soon ran away with a 27-9 lead at half-time. After the break, Burnside displayed renewed vigour, with Diane Brown playing especially well at centre. Its wingattack, Sue Camp, was prevented from displaying her passing skills and speed to the fullest, as Sacred Heart made sure that she was guarded very closely by the competent Bronwyn Tawina. Mid-way through the second half, Sacred Heart’s centre and

coach, Leigh Gibbs, was injured and moved to the less demanding position of wing defence, with Joanne Sullivan moving to centre. Play was held up for quite some time while Gibbs received first aid to her leg. Sacred Heart restarted after this break playing adequate, if not startling, netball, but still managed to keep an easy grip on the lead to win 44-22. Umpires: A. Orangi and J. Woodham. St Nicholas B 24, Sacred Heart B 22 This was easily the closest match of the day and Sacred Heart began strongly, having the edge in the first half. Sacred Heart’s goal-shoot, Louise Hanham, was away for this match and she was replaced by the consistent and capable Eileen Honey. Sacred Heart’s defence was working so well that St Nicholas was forced to use long passes in order to try and maintain possession. After a half-time lead of 1311 to Sacred Heart. St Nicholas replied by taking the lead, stepping up its own defence. St Nicholas’ centre, Barbera Shaw, who had put on a fine display earlier playing for the A team, had an unfortunate ending to the day, severely injuring her ankle and having to leave the court in a wheelchair. The wing defence, Leanne Ellis, replaced her, and Keran New from the C team took Ellis’ position. At this stage, St Nicholas led by only one goal and in these final few moments the win could have gone to either team. Mistakes crept into the game here as a result of both nerves and desperation but St Nicholas managed to edge Sacred Heart out in the end at 24-22. Umpires: J. Hefford and L. Miles. Hagley 48, Riccarton 35 Goals were plentiful in this game, with both teams displaying accomplished shooting. Riccarton’s goal-shoot, Diane Nellis, was in reliable form as was its goal-attack, Sue Bradshaw, and their consistency, especially in the first half, helped Riccarton to al-

most take the lead at one stage. Jan Pickering netted accurately and calmly as usual, and combined with the excellent passing and positioning of the wing-attack, Ann Wickem, and the centre, Linda Parnham, Hagley was rewarded with a lead of 20-16 at half-time. Riccarton used one tactic throughout the match, having its wing-attack and centre pass to each other down one side of the court only, time after time. This was successful for Riccarton until Hagley became wise to this tactic and found an effective counter. Five minutes before full time Hagley opened up a seven-goal lead when the Riccarton players let unnecessary errors creep in. However, its goaldefence, Stephenie Bourne, plaved especially well in this match, and Riccarton put up an admirable showing none the less. Umpires: J. Woodham and A. Orangi. South Brighton 30, Teachers 17 It was a close game with more emphasis placed on defending than attackingg. This resulted in a game which was predominantly played in midcourt, both teams finding it difficult to get the ball set up for their shoots. At half-time it was 12-12, then 14-14, until South Brighton got the break and held possession for a two-goal lead. Teachers’ College put up a sound display, using all its resources and determination to prevent South Brighton from running away with a lead. Its regular goal-shoot, Robyn Ede, was away and she was replaced by Faye Wilson, who played a sound game, as did the wingdefence, Nicki Hudson. As soon as it had managed to gain a slim lead, South Brighton displayed its confidence. Its defence had Teachers’ College struggling to get the pass away and it made more use of its opportunities at goal. Therese Dickey at centre, Rachel Bradley at wing-attack and Verna Kelly at wingdefence, put up a very solid mid-court attack and helped lift South Brighton's final goal tally to 30. Umpires: T. Eaden and J. Walsh.