By Maddy Potts
As winners of college netball, the Alcuin team stepped up to fill the place of a University 4ths team this morning to play the Lancaster 4ths.
The first goal went to Lancaster goal attack Molly Lynch; a sign of things to come, perhaps, for she delivered an unwavering performance throughout, responsible for much of Lancaster’s high score. But, for the first three quarters, the Alcuin team played fiercely, and neither team were able to draw a convincing lead.
York captain Sofia Lambert began playing in goal shoot, putting her head-to-head with formidable Lancaster goal keeper Sarah Kelly-Olatunji. Kelly-Olatunji kept up intense pressure, deflecting most of Lambert’s shots on goal and stealing every rebound. After a deflating first quarter for Lambert, she swapped positions with vice captain Charlotte Winter, and both teams upped their game.
Play sped up, and the goals came thick and fast. Unfortunately, most of them were from Lancaster. Nevertheless, the York side put up an extremely impressive defence, with wing defence Amy Finch making some killer interceptions. Lambert came into her own, and for the rest of the match she, Winter and Amy Moye delivered an impressive sweep of goals.
By the start of the third quarter Lancaster were edging ahead, and their superior fitness started to show through, their stamina seeing them sail ahead to the end.
After the final whistle a tired but happy Lambert told Vision that she was thrilled Lancaster had given them such a good game; “I think we played brilliantly, but they’re undeniably a great team, and at the end of the day they came out on top.”
Pitted against a university level team, Alcuin college put in an amazing effort, and did the crowds of spectators who came to support them proud.