Girls' 1st VII v Kimbolton

Date: Saturday 6th March

Venue: Away. Get changed at break. You will need to order a packed lunch. Please be ready to leave the Arch at 11.40am (i.e. excuse yourselves politely from lesson 5!)
Kit: Blue skirt and shirt + white socks. No hoodies! Remember to remove jewellery and to bring water bottles. Match start time is 2.00pm. We are also playing The Leys, Cambridge in a triangular match. Estimated time of return: 6.30pm

Team:

R Lawrence
E Holroyd
E Tyler
A King
H Cornish 
S Parkin
TBC + 2

Result:

Repton 29 - Kimbolton 19

Repton 28 - The Leys 15

Match Report: Alas, my hopes for a full squad, fully fit and raring to go were thwarted again today and once more we had no choice other than to play with 7 players which obviously meant that injury and illness was not an option! The first match was against Kimbolton and although we made a shaky start, this was to be expected as we had spent nearly two hours on the coach. By half time, the score was 13 goals to 11 in our favour although Kimbolton were eager to take the lead. However, we stepped up the pace in the third quarter and Parkin made some outstanding shots and retrievals (although I have no idea how she did it!) in the circle. Meanwhile at the other end, Holroyd and King were battling hard to defend our opponents shots with much success. Scoring 9 goals to their two in that third quarter sealed their fate and we never looked back from there. However, this was a lovely match to watch and the girls once more were a credit to the school and themselves.

Having just played 40 minutes of netball with no reserves, I was therefore a little cautious about playing The Leys straight afterwards. However, I need not have been. Our fitness was incredibly good (Cornish and Tyler in particular in the centre court) and not one of the girls showed any sign of tiring and certainly never gave up on fighting for the ball. We took an early lead of 8 goals to 3, then 16 goals to 7, and by half time of the second match we finally managed to look as though we were enjoying it and started to relax (even R Lawrence in her new role as GS!). I realise that the pressure of having no substitutes was stressful and I do thank them hugely for once again turning on the form and playing a great game of netball in such difficult circumstances. The final score was 28 goals to 15 and once again our opponents were delightful and played a lovely game of netball, but it never really looked in any doubt as to what the outcome would be. Well done girls...an impressive achievement that they have remained undefeated in 17 inter-school fixtures. NMO