College Netball: Roundup

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Photos: Dave Hughes

Halifax, Alcuin and James all secured wins in Sunday’s college netball fixtures.

Halifax came from behind to beat Goodricke 13-8 in a topsy-turvy contest, but the following two matches were somewhat more one-sided; Alcuin crushed Langwith 29-2 and then James annihilated Vanbrugh 31-1.

Goodricke started their match against Halifax impressively. Goal attack Kav Aggarwhal was in splendid form, scoring four times within the first five minutes as they rapidly built a 4-1 lead.

Many of Goodricke’s attacks were based on goal defence Ellie Jones’ terrific interception rate and accurate distribution.

However, Halifax clawed their way back to 4-3. Kat Robinson scored a quick-fire double, the first from centre Bridy Parson’s pass, the second following a misplaced pass from GK Tasha Burr.

Aggarwhal scored again to make it 5-3, but Halifax levelled proceedings through Rebecca Gabbitas and Kat Robinson, as they worked well together and with the impressive Parson.

The half time score read 6-6 as Aggarwhal and Gabbitas added to their tallies.

Halifax went ahead for the first time in the match when Robinson scored, but Claire Mayo made it 7-7 seconds later.

But Halifax went up a couple of gears to put themselves in an unassailable position. Robinson scored twice and Gabbitas once to make the score 10-7.

Goodricke pulled one back through Mayo, but Frankie Hall’s work with Robinson and Gabbitas was admirable and Halifax triumphed 13-8.

Hall commented afterwards: ‘It was difficult at first but I’m really pleased with how we came back and won.’

In the second match of the afternoon, Alcuin turned on the style to beat Langwith 29-2.

Goal attack Amy Moye stunned Langwith with three early goals and Charlotte Winter added another couple to establish a 5-0 lead and set the tone for the rest of the match.

Langwith’s first goal to make it 5-1 was greeted with huge cheers from supporters on the sidelines as they tried to push their team onwards.

But Alcuin had other ideas as the team in red cruised to a 13-2 lead at half-time. The pick of the goals came from Winter who scored from 7 feet out, and a memorable team move involving Millie Harvey, Winter and Moye, the latter surging through to score brilliantly.

Special mention should also go to Helen Marrison, who was the platform for most of Alcuin’s attacks in making interceptions and quickly feeding Roberts and Harvey.

The rest of the match simply saw more of the same. Moye and Winter often left their markers in another postcode with their movement and were clinical with their shooting.

Between them, the pairing scored 16 second-half goals to leave Langwith reeling and continue Alcuin’s unbeaten run this term. After the match, Winter said she ‘was very impressed with the performance because we have a couple of big games coming up.’

The third and final match saw fellow title-challengers James up against Vanbrugh.

Vanbrugh only had five players for the opening few minutes and it cost them; through Alia Khalil James created a 2-0 advantage and got the confidence flowing.

Although Megan Phillips joined the action to even up the numbers, James continued to score at will. Their distinct height advantage over their opponents meant they were always first to rebounds and could frequently block Vanbrugh’s shots.

While Khalil was particularly prolific in scoring, at the other end Rachel Bunce towered over Vanbrugh’s Georgina Twibill and Harriet Chidwick to halt their efforts. The first half ended with James 11-0 up.

The second half was effectively an acceleration of these trends as James scored another 20 goals. However, Vanbrugh did get themselves on the scoresheet after Chidwick scored a late consolation.

Vision MOTMs: Kat Robinson; Charlotte Winter; Alia Khalil.