Lancaster 27 – 20 York
College Select Netball takes the best players from the College Leagues to form their own new squad. The Lancaster side hadn’t seen a victory since 2015, but they didn’t let their relative unfamiliarity stop them, with early-morning training and plenty of friendlies to practice, they provided a great game and that all important win.
The first quarter took a while for both teams to get into the game, with multiple turnovers and finally a goal from Lancaster’s Hannah Race to place them in the lead. Rach Evans performed a fantastic interception on the York centre pass, helping to push the score to 10 – 4 Lancaster at the end of the first quarter.
Whatever the talk the York side had in the quarter break must have good because they came out with a new fighting spirit. A six goal difference can easily be toppled in Netball, alas the York side just couldn’t get into their attacking circle. Lancaster used every rebound to take the ball back to their own goal, doubling York’s score. By half time Lancaster sat at a comfortable 19 – 10 lead.
The York side became visibly frustrated and allowed this to get the better of them, their teamwork collapsed and they couldn’t find a way to regain the ball. Lancaster’s Hollie Dalton made the most of their lapse in concentration and provided spot on feeds to the shooters, making their job too easy. 25 – 15 to Lancaster.
The final quarter saw York make multiple mistakes. They contacted and obstructed, giving the ball easily back to Lancaster. Lancaster struggled to find the goal and York fought hard to pull the score back closer, but it was too little too late. Lancaster sealed the win with a final score of 27 – 20.
Lancaster’s player’s player, Rach Evans, credits the ‘extra time we spent getting to know each other off court’ as the reason for their win. ‘The match was fought hard by everyone and all those breakfast/lunch dates paid off, winning roses and making new friends.’
Congrats to the girls on ending the York winning streak and hopefully next year’s team can take inspiration from this brilliant squad.
