Warwick netball put arch-rivals Coventry in their place

Match Report

Fixture: Warwick Women’s Netball First Team v Coventry Women’s First Team

Date: Wednesday 19th November 2014

Once again, Coventry University were put in their rightful place, as the Women’s Netball first team thrashed the Coventry first team 41-20 on Wednesday 19 November, which included 10 points in a row in a period of 10 minutes. Up to this point, the first team had come under scrutiny after a poor start, and had lost to Loughborough in their previous league fixture. However, these demons were well and truly put to bed in the Desso Hall.

After a shaky start which involved conceding three points very early on, it did not take long for the team to get into their rhythm as they applied constant pressure on Coventry. With strong support from the stands, the team were able to counter-attack with great pace and accuracy.

In the first quarter, Coventry suffered an injury four minutes in as the player went down on her ankle. Whether that affected the outcome of the match, we cannot be sure. However, Warwick shot out of the traps after that, giving Coventry no opportunity to protest that the injury was the deciding factor of the match. Coventry were outclassed across the court – their shot accuracy was poor, their reading of the game was off and the defence made too many mistakes in dealing with Warwick’s GS and GA.

This continued into the second quarter straight away, with the score at 8-5. The contrast was even clearer as Warwick were much closer to the Coventry players, made more interceptions and averaged four passes per third to get the ball from their third to Coventry’s third. After a short break 11 minutes into the second quarter, Warwick’s focus did not break and entered the half-way point 18-9 up.

At the beginning of the final quarter, only Warwick started play with a huddle and ‘hands-in-moment’

There was a change of GA for the third quarter and some signs of losing focus were apparent, and Coventry were allowed into the game. However, despite the game opening up, Coventry’s GK and GD continued to make mistakes and the players further up the field lost focus, allowing Warwick to continue with their fast counter-attacking style throughout. With confidence high in the Warwick camp, the teams separated at the end of the quarter with the score at 29-16.

At the beginning of the previous quarters, both teams had started with a huddle and ‘hands-in moment’ to shout either “go Warwick!” or “go Coventry!” respectively. At the beginning of the final quarter, only Warwick did this. Although a netball match is still losable from this point, it was clear that Warwick, the team with the greater unity and confidence, had this in the bag.

Yet again, Warwick continued their high pressure and fast counter-attacking game, and they were rewarded with a period which saw 10 points in a row over 10 minutes. After a warning from the referee to the crowd on 11 minutes, the game began to open up but it was too little too late from the Coventry ladies. The final whistle blew and the score was 41-20, Warwick more than doubling the amount of points Coventry had managed to accrue.

The first team now sit fifth in the BUCS table and will hope to carry on this good from into their next match away to Oxford first, who are, intimidatingly, first in the table. This was a very entertaining fixture and, in my opinion, the woman of the match must go to the Goal Attacker, Meghan, who didn’t seem to miss a shot!