U15A v Trent

Date: Saturday 16th January

Venue: Away. Go to lunch as normal and then get changed. You will need to be ready to leave the Arch at 1.15pm

 Kit: Blue skirt and shirt + white socks. No hoodies! Remember to remove jewellery and to bring water bottles. Match start time is 2.00pm. Estimated time of return: 5.15pm

Team:

C Chadwick
K Benn
L Phillips
H Marsay
C Graham
E Sharples
M Ewins

Result: Lost 19-20

Match Report:

Given that recent snow had severely limited training opportunities, this was always likely to be a tough first match and a good Trent side certainly had the upper hand throughout the first two quarters. Repton’s passing lacked control, giving away the ball far too easily all over the court. Trent were quick to take advantage of Repton’s mistakes and established a strong lead of 13-4 at half time.

To their credit however, the U15As listened carefully to constructive criticism and started to move the ball more accurately up the court. Charlotte Graham’s work ethos at Centre was impressive, linking up effectively with Heather Marsay and Kate Benn in order to move the ball out of danger and back into Repton’s half of the court. The third quarter was much stronger, equalling Trent with 4 goals each.

In the final quarter, Repton suddenly found their form, which meant a nail-biting final 12 minutes. Ellie Sharples and Lauren Phillips were able to find the space beneath the post that had eluded them up to now, thanks to some strong blocking by Trent’s GK and GD. However, a number of decisive leading runs from Ellie helped to break up the Trent defence and with both shooters regularly finding the net, Repton started to rapidly close the gap. In the final quarter, Repton’s momentum took them tantalisingly close to Trent, scoring 11 goals to Trent’s 3 but unfortunately the final whistle blew just one goal short.

Despite losing by a single goal, Repton can certainly be encouraged by their final quarter of play. The lack of control in passing during the first half resulted in a goal deficit that was hard to make up and this certainly gives the team something to focus on in training this week. NJC