Despite a strong start, Lincoln City 2 (The Imps) struggled to maintain their consistency during their clash with Derbyshire's Iceni in this week’s round of East Midlands Netball Regional League Division 2 games (18/11/12). Iceni looked like a well-rounded and assured team and they managed to capitalise on many of Imps' mistakes to emerge with a convincing win.
Lincoln City 2’s team, which was once again depleted, due to illness and injury, began the game with some vigour, managing to convert their own centres and capitalise on many of Iceni's early mistakes. The Imps briefly got their noses in front thanks to some accurate shooting from Vicky Bayes and Laura Forsey. The shooters were fuelled by Zoe Cooper and Megan Samways, who both kept their composure under some difficult Iceni defensive pressure around the circle, to provide excellent feeds. Lincoln City 2’s defensive unit was also in fine form, applying the necessary pressure to force several weak feeds into the circle and secure many turnovers. The quarter finished 11-10, and the Imps left the court feeling hopeful that their high performance would continue. The second quarter saw Lincoln City 2's defence struggle to pick off the accurate feeds deployed by Ex-England Captain and Loughborough Lightning Coach, Olivia Murphy, resulting in goal after goal being converted by a meticulous Iceni attack. The Imps' shooters were also under increasing pressure from their opponent's long reach and to confound matters, an injury to Megan Samways forced the Imps into some changes. Jade Houlton dropped back to Goal Keeper (GK), Zoe Cooper claimed the Centre (C) bib and Charlotte Bayes took to the court in the Goal Shooter (GS) position, to play alongside her sister. At half-time the score stood at 25-16 in Iceni’s favour and the Imps left the court disheartened but certainly not defeated. The third quarter progressed much the same way as the second. The Bayes sisters continued to move well in attack but opportunities to net the ball were rare and Iceni continued to apply immense pressure and capitalised on every Lincoln City 2 error, no matter how small it was. The Imps did manage to convert a couple of turnovers though, including one from a particularly impressive Laura Forsey interception, which helped the team score three on the bounce. The Imps made another slight reshuffle before the start of the fourth quarter, which saw Lizzie Saywell take the Wing Defence (WD) bib and Megan return to Centre (C). Jade Houlton, voted ‘Player of the Game’ by Iceni, managed to turn the ball several times in what proved to be a low scoring fifteen minutes as both defences were on top (9-4). The Imps continued to battle hard and walked away with what could prove to be a vital point at the end of the season. The final score was Iceni 47-29 Lincoln City 2. Next up for the Lincoln City 2 ladies is local rivals, Briggs and District, in what is sure to be a heavily-contested and potentially crucial game. Comments are closed.
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April 2013
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