The netball team hosted Aquinas College for the latest round of the AoC National Cup on Wednesday. Unfortunately, they just fell short to an in form and clinical Aquinas side.
The first quarter started fast and Loreto were 4-0 up in the blink of an eye. The attacking end of Lydia Forster, Kemi Onasanya and Freya Coggins looked strong early. Player of the Match, Freya Coggins put on a great display, holding strong in the circle and shooting at 90% accuracy. However, some uncharacteristic mistakes, probably due to nerves, meant that Aquinas made a comeback and the quarter score finished 6-8 in the visitor’s favour.
The second quarter remained just as close, with Aquinas edging ahead into a 5 goal lead. Loreto’s defensive trio of Giselle Yeboah, Jasmine McAvoy and Isabelle Tyler were as formidable as ever and turned over plenty of ball, but Loreto just couldn’t capitalise on these, allowing Aquinas to maintain their lead. Jasmine McAvoy (pictured) was exceptionally good in at GD, earning herself joint Player of the Match. The score finished 12-17 at half time.
Heading into the third quarter, Aquinas were very much in control, forcing Loreto into numerous mistakes and capitalising on them. This quarter saw Emily Brocklebank enter the game at GS and Daisy Shea at WD. These changes seemed to unsettle Loreto and the game started to slip away, finishing 18-25 to the away team.
The final quarter saw a resurgence from Loreto, who won the last quarter and managed to pull the score back to within 2 goals. Grace McAvoy came back onto the court at C and made an impact straight away, tenacious in defence and steady in attack. Kemi Onasanya stepped up another level at GA, earning herself Opposition’s POTM. An impressive interception from Isabelle Tyler and tenacious defence from Olivia Hickey helped Loreto close the gap and prevented Aquinas from scoring for the first half of the last quarter.
Heading into the final minutes the score was 24-26 and Loreto looked like they were going to sneak into victory. However, some determined defence from the visitors and a critical turnover from the Aquinas WD in the final moments meant that they managed to maintain their lead, finishing strong. The final score finished Loreto 26-31 Aquinas.
This means that Loreto are unfortunately now out of the AoC National Cup. However, we still have plenty of games left in the North West Colleges Netball League!
Squad: Olivia Hickey, Giselle Yeboah, Jasmine McAvoy, Isabelle Tyler, Daisy Shea, Grace McAvoy, Lydia Forster, Kemi Onasanya, Emily Brocklebank, Freya Coggins, Grace O’Shaunessy.
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