The determined York 2nds fought heroically against an unbeaten, top of the league Newcastle side yesterday afternoon to lose out by 40 goals to 29. Unfortunately, despite demonstrating a dazzling array of passing and movement on court, the Yorkshire girls were unable to capitalise.
Newcastle, as predicted, flew into the game, while York took a few minutes to fully focus on the game at hand. However, the York girls were not fazed by the zonal marking implemented by the Newcastle team and darted around the court, using short, sharp passes to effectively weave around the Newcastle side. However, the basketball style shooting of the Newcastle goal shooter proved initially impossible to control, in spite of the consistent pressure from the excellent team work of the York defence.
After a motivating team talk from Captain, Elissa Bryan, the York girls came out fighting in the second quarter, highlighting why they have been recognised as such a strong team. Emily Shipwright bounded elegantly around the court, providing some stunning feeds into the shooting circle. Ellie Jones dominated centre court, intimidating the Newcastle players with her constant pressure on the ball.
The first few minutes of the third quarter proved to be a victorious one for York. The girls stormed onto court, clinically performing excellent set plays and precise passing all the way up court. Despite opposing a physically strong and consistent goal shooter, Carrie Green dominated the defensive circle with fellow defender, Grace Clarke. Regardless of the initial power play by York, Newcastle subtly began to creep ahead and took advantage of York’s missed chances.
In the fourth and final quarter, York demonstrated their strength, determination and fitness to maintain a high intensity fight until the final whistle. Whereas Newcastle began to tire, York played confidently until the end. Amy Moll highlighted why she, despite not being one hundred percent fit, fully deserved her goal attack position. She shot astoundingly alongside Olivia Rainey under pressure from the towering Newcastle defence. Both teams converted their centre passes, maintaining the high speed of play.
After an intense game, it was evident that the York girls had given everything they had. Despite a disappointing result, the girls gave one hundred percent and at times seriously threatened the unbeaten Newcastle side. A well deserved player of the match was awarded to Sarah Pickup whose movement and spatial awareness around the shooting circle has improved tremendously since entering the team at the beginning of this season.
Captain Elissa Bryan commented after the match that she was ‘very proud of how the girls played and their fighting spirit all the way through the game’. The girls are looking forward to enjoying their remaining matches of the season and capitalising on these first two difficult games of this season.