Lancaster 3rds Netball
Throughout the first quarter of the match, the Lancaster team displayed strong defence and sheer determination, alongside the working partnership of the Goal-attack and Goal-shooter to see the scoreboard read 7-5 to the away-side.
The second quarter began in a back-and-forth manner before York eventually scored the first goal of the quarter reducing the deficit to just one.
However, Lancaster did not let this start of a come-back phase them, with exciting passing between the attackers and excellent blocking from the Lancastrian defenders, they soon had the York-side trailing by 4 points.
The tensest spell of play came in the last 5 minutes where York, from 22-17, brought the score back to 22-20. Lancaster clung on to position for a lot of this time and within it managed to only let one more York goal in, whilst obtaining two of their own. The final score read Lancaster 24, York 21. An impressive and well fought victory for the away-side.
Rachael Dawson, captain of the Lancaster thirds said to SCAN: “It was an excellent effort from the whole team. We finished second in the League this year, so it is the end to a brilliant season. It is my last year this year and the first years were really nervous, so this victory meant a lot.”
Lancaster 2nds Netball
The Lancaster team narrowly lost out to their York counterparts in an extremely competitive and impressive game of netball.
York opened up the score line relatively quickly with a shot at goal from their Goal-shooter, but this was to quickly be equalised by Lancaster’s Goal-attack.
As York led 6-3, the away-side had a period of play which exuded confidence and they brought the opposition within one point of drawing.
From this point onwards, the goals flowed freely. The score was soon 33-26 to York, nearing the end of the game. Despite a couple of missed shots at goal, the Lancaster side showed an impressive comeback on the lead and got as close as 34-32 thanks to the shooters.
However, it simply wasn’t meant to be for the valiant Lancaster side as York slotted in a few more to make the final score 41-34.
Grace Biggins, captain of the 2nds, stated: “We gave it our all, it was really close. We’ve had a good season and came top of the league so we can still be proud.”
The team can also be proud because the umpire of the match reported: “The Lancaster attackers were great. The whole team played some excellent netball and their behaviour was impeccable. Both sides were of a brilliant standard and it was lovely to watch.”
Lancaster 1sts Netball
This game was one of the closest and most unpredictable games of the entire weekend.
It was the home-side who opened up the scoring with a shot at goal within the initial minute of the game. A penalty pass to York was well defended in the area, despite some silly errors that were being made. Nonetheless, the Lancaster side soon equalised.
York pulled away to a 4-1 lead because despite Lancaster’s many opportunities for a shot in the net, the tall York defence prevented a score.
The home-side’s defence remained strong throughout the first half, but Lancaster never let them completely out of their sights with the half-time score standing at 21-16, only 5 points down.
However, half time is where the Lancastrian side took it up a gear. York started to make a couple of errors with regard to footwork and obstruction, which left the away-side slightly more open for some attacking play. By the end of the third quarter Lancaster were drawing with the opposition, 28-28.
The last quarter of the game was by far the tensest moments of the game, but both sides used it to their advantage and displayed some fantastic netball. A great stretch of play by Lancaster saw them edge ahead to 32-30, putting them in a great position to hold onto.
But the home-side refused to give up and kept coming back at the Lancaster team. With two minutes to go the score read 38-37 to Lancaster, but everyone knew this was bound to change just because of the sheer pace of the game.
It was an incredibly close game that neither side deserved to lose. Lancaster finished on 39 points and restricted the York side to 38, a mere one point away.
