Witham netball teams stretch themselves against older teams!

Senior Netball v The Peterborough School

Witham Hall U13A wins 25-1 v The Peterborough School U14A

The U13A girls were very much looking forward to a match against an older side.  This would help with dealing with height and strength in a game situation, which the U13’s need very much.  In the first quarter, Captains Emily Grace and Oriana Simmonds really took control and dominated the court.  This had a knock on throughout and Rose Barson, Tara Lloyd and Rhianne Price really started to give their opponents something to think about.  The feeding through the court to Saskia Norton and Lilla Powell was slick and fast, which gave Witham a lot of opportunities at goal.  By half time, Witham were very much in control, with Peterborough still failing to score.  The Peterborough girls never gave up and came back on court after half time with a determination to score.  They did and that lifted their performance.  Again, Witham were so tight at marking that our opponents couldn’t find the gaps to pass into.  Witham scored another 5 goals and were running away with the game.  The final quarter saw another 8 goals scored for Witham, which gave a final score of Witham 25 and Peterborough School 1.  Well done to all girls, who again listened to advice, worked hard on their tactical/positional play and had a good shooting opportunity today.  Thank you to all our supporters who came to support the team.  Special thanks must go to Mrs Lloyd who helped out with the transport and support of the team.  Well done and thank you to Mrs Norton too, who umpired her first Senior netball game and did it with flying colours!

Witham Hall U13B loses 6-8 v The Peterborough School U13A

All the Witham girls warmed up together and they started their matches both focused and determined. The B team game got off to a good start. Frankie Gates and Immy Lee did an excellent job in defence and managed to keep the ball from entering the circle too frequently.  Ali Eatch nipped around the court at great speed and was able to escape the close marking of her partner. The score at the end of the first quarter was 3 goals each and it was already clear that it was going to be a very close, hard fought game. Olivia Pepper and Ella Dupree, who are starting to predict each other’s movement in the circle, worked well together throughout the match although the accuracy of their shooting was not 100% on this occasion!  The score at half time was 6-4 to Witham. Bella Cox showed her flexibility as a player by adapting brilliantly to her change of position from Wing Defence to Wing Attack at half time. Although she does not see Wing Attack as ‘her position’ she made an excellent contribution to centre court play.  Millie Coward held the team together at Centre and is proving herself to be a very consistent and thoughtful player. At three quarter time the Peterborough School had edged ahead and was leading 7-6. It was quite a physical game and there was some contact from both teams but everyone kept their cool! Abbey Lloyd showed great determination and although on one or two occasions a little over enthusiastic, she made some excellent interceptions. Only one goal was scored in the last quarter, making the final score 8-6 to The Peterborough School.

It was a tough match, made more so by the fact that the majority of the Peterborough girls were a year older. However, the B’s kept the pressure on all the way through the game and this was reflected in the very close final score.  Well done girls.

It was expected that the match would bring good competition for Witham, as our C team were playing against St Mary’s B’s. Witham shot the first goal of the match and kept in front for the entire match, however, it was a very close game. Clo Farmer stood out for her excellent snatches in the ‘D’ and especially her shooting, scoring 3 of the 4 goals for Witham. Chica Maitland played WD with quick movements and precise ball handling to and from her fellow team players. Poppy Chatterton made good leads and Maria Morris showed good dodging technique. Georgia Williams played GS, Catherine Swanston played GD, and GK was rotated between Sophie Wass and Georgina Hackney. Once again, well done all of you on another great win!