In our first fixture in over two years, Loreto were able to field two netball teams when they played again Bury’s Holy Cross Sixth Form College last Wednesday, which was a great opportunity for more of our students to play a competitive game, and both games proved to be very competitive. Loreto couldn’t quite get the win against two very clinical Holy Cross sides, but it was great to see our students back on court enjoying themselves!
Loreto’s Pink Team played the first game, which started goal-for-goal with both teams playing some splendid netball. The defensive end for Holy Cross was relentless, with an England U21 and Manchester Thunder player in at GK. However, Loreto played the patient game, with the attacking trio of Milly, Rachael and Abigail using their speed and game-smarts to get the ball to goal. Loreto managed to stay within touching distance at the end of the first half, courtesy of Abigail standing up to the pressure of the Holy Cross defence and netting some important goals.   The end of the first half finished Loreto 10-19 Holy Cross.
Loreto made some changes in the third quarter, with Milly moving to centre, Keira coming on at wing attack and Amber (Player of the Match) moving to goal defence, coming up with some superb interceptions! Esme supported her defensive counterparts excellently, shutting down the Holy Cross wing attack and providing the defensive duo of Laure and Lucy plenty of intercept opportunities! Unfortunately, Loreto let the momentum swing over to Holy Cross in the second half of the game, with the final scoring finishing Loreto 16-35 Holy Cross. However, the team have much to be proud of, namely that this was their first fixture in over two years and their first time playing together as a team. Loreto’s next fixture will be on 20th October, at home versus Aquinas.
Honours for this game go to Amber and Laure for being voted Players of the Match!
The second game of the afternoon saw a much closer contest, with Loreto’s Blue Team (pictured right) leading for the majority of the match, losing out in the last few minutes of the game, just falling short with a 19-18 loss to Holy Cross.
Loreto were dominant for the whole of the first half, racking up an impressive 15-3 lead at half time, courtesy of Charlotte and Emma in at goal attack and goal shooter. Darcy was electric in the mid-court at wing attack, using her speed, flare and vision to get the ball into her shooters. Eva and Sophie were steady in the midcourt, bringing the ball down court and providing their attackers ample opportunity to net goals. Loreto made changes at the start of the second half, with Blessing coming on at goal attack and Charlotte moving back into goal shooter. These changes were seamless and did not affect Loreto’s dominant performance. However, the third quarter saw a resurgence from Holy Cross, bringing the score back to 15-9 at the end of that quarter, meaning that it was all to play for in the last 15 minutes.
Holy Cross continued to ride their momentum wave and were impressive in the final quarter, turning over crucial ball and capitalising on every opportunity. Some unforced errors form Loreto meant that Holy Cross started to level the scores, just sneaking ahead in the final few minutes. The defensive partnership of Neve and Alexandra was much to be celebrated, with the pair racking up an enormous amount of turnovers across the game, making it very difficult the Holy Cross attack.
Honours for this game goes to Darcy for being voted Player of the Match!