Dragonfly's v Hilton

The first quarter started well with the Dragonfly's taking an early lead of 4 goals after some great pressure in mid court and quick passes in attack. Unfortunately a few footwork calls against us and some missed opportunities meant that we finished the first quarter with only a one goal lead with the score being 10 - 9 to us.
A few positional changes at both ends during the break gave a new dynamic to the court and some lovely quick moves and great shooting and support around the circle enabled us to pull away to a 6 goal lead at half-time with the score being 20 - 14 to the Dragonfly's as we stopped and recharged our batteries.

After a very quick team talk at half-time the girls went back out on court but a few errors again of passing the ball to the body, standing still to receive and ball control meant Hilton started to come back and scored nearly every time they had the ball in their circle. This meant at the end of the 3rd quarter we were only leading by 3 goals with the score being 28 - 25 to the Dragonfly's.

The last quarter was manic on both sides, everybody fighting for the ball, pressure and errors from both teams and all 4 shooters (both sides) feeling the stress of shooting. To add to the frustration a mix up with the centre passes and before we knew it Hilton had actually gone into the lead for the first time in the game.
Everyone dug deep at this stage to keep their calm and work the ball down to Caitlin & Eleanor who were shooting to try and gain the advantage back. Another wrong centre pass taken and we were behind again, having to level under enormous pressure from the Hilton defense with Caitlin ending up on the floor but being able to sink the shot after being awarded the penalty.
The score was level at 33 all with only about a minute to go and Hilton had possession. Some lovely defense from all the mid court, Abigail, Mollie & Charlotte, to slow the ball down and then Emma & Elizabeth in defense kept the pressure on causing the shooters to miss both shots they took before the final whistle was blown.
Well done to Katie & Emma against a very experienced shooter in the Hilton side, our shooters Mollie, Caitlin & Eleanor for some great shots under pressure & Charlotte, Elizabeth & Abigail for all their hard work during the match. It was a real team effort from all 8 players this morning.

Player of match (voted by opposition): Abigail Balcombe

Thank you to Patricia Balcombe for umpiring & Emma Lunn for scoring the 12pm match.