Match Report
England Netball
England Netball
Storm signal their intent with impressive win over reigning champs
The start of the 2012 FIAT Netball Superleague began in the same vein as the previous season ended, with a clash between these two fierce rivals. On this occasion it was the visitors who left the Hertfordshire Sports Village with the glory as they cruised to an impressive 15 goal victory over the reigning champions. The England trio of Rachel Dunn, Pamela Cookey and Tamsin Greenway controlling large chunks of the play as Storm lived up to their tag of pre-competition favourites. A capacity crowd was packed into the Hertfordshire Sports Village with the announcer even asking those in attendance to squeeze in so everybody had a seat! Before the action got underway a minute’s silence was held in respect to two great netballing names that we sadly lost in the previous 12 months.
The fans were still and respectful as the tribute to Mike Greenwood and Lucas von Hoff was observed impeccably. It was a fast paced start once proceedings got underway as both sides battled well for the lead, interceptions were being made by both defences with Lindsay Keable looking particularly sharp for the hosts. With each team susceptible to the turnover it was essential that when the ball reached the attacking circle, chances weren’t wasted. Remarkably the precision was also astray for the shooters, Storm missing the fewer and therefore taking advantage. With five minutes left in the quarter the score were level at 8-8.
The visitors captain Becky Trippick was running her socks off and allowing her coach Tamsin Greenway to make the feeds. Both defences were working overtime and forcing mistakes with their pressure, Natalie Seaton ensuring that the Mavericks mid-court had no breathing space. Another notable feature was the speed of the Storm possession and movement at their centre pass, without a second’s thought the ball would leave the hand of Trippick and in the blink of an eye one of the visiting England shooters was standing up a shot. At the other end, the attacking duo of Shaunagh Craig and Vicklyn Joseph were inconsistent with their shooting, often falling short with attempts. Mavericks continued to fight hard and at the end of the first quarter were trailing, but only by three with the score 13-10 in Storm’s favour.
It was in the second quarter that Storm really started to go through the gears and impose themselves onto the hosts. Trippick was dominating the mid-court and proving a crucial link between defence and attack. Slowly but surely the link-up play between Cookey and Dunn was finding its feet and before long the two were working in tandem to forge the visitors ahead. At the other Craig’s woes continued as she missed opportunities to pull Mavericks back into the game. Greenway’s charges were clinical when scenting they had control of the game and were exposing the defensive line of Hazel Schofield and Lindsay Keable with their movement. In reply the Mavericks mid-court duo of Sasha Corbin and Rose Morgan-Smith were working tirelessly and providing more direct feeds to their attack. However, as soon as Karen Atkinson’s side got a sniff of a comeback, Storm would force the mistake, convert their centre pass and pull clear once more. At half-time a 28-22 lead for the visitors was well deserved.
The interval saw Atkinson replace Craig with another young shooter, Alice Ewer and the tactic seemed to pay dividends as the Mavericks ship steadied. It wasn’t long though until Storm started to expose holes in their opposition once more as they upped the tempo and seemed to find their attackers under the post at will. Dunn firmly had her eye in now and the goals were flowing. The partnership between her and Cookey was starting to fire as they played well together in drawing defenders out of the circle and capitalising on the space, Trippick was retrieving ball and Greenway providing it, at times it looked like an incredibly well drilled outfit. Even the usually unflappable Corbin was feeling the pressure as one mis-feed saw the England player crouched with head in hands, aghast at her misdirected pass. The home support was still in raucous spirit and when Mavericks found the net they were roaring with delight despite the increasing deficit. In the closing stages of the third quarter the gap had grown to 15 and Storm continued to look the more composed side. Ewer did give the fans something to shout about, making a couple of decent efforts from distance and she looked relaxed on ball, never shirking the opportunity to have an attempt. However, the score line said everything you needed to know about the third quarter as with 15 minutes remaining Storm had eased ahead, 50-34.
One luxury of being player-coach is the ability to give yourself a rest and with Storm nearing an unassailable lead, Greenway did just that. Adele Modeste came on as did Stef Bello who replaced Natalie Seaton. Following a destructive quarter Atkinson mixed up her defence and brought Josie Huckle on at GK and switched Keable to GD, Schofield was sacrificed. Steffi Burt also came on at GS for Joseph as the full quartet of Mavericks shooter got some court time. Huckle was quick into her stride and had the crowd on their feet with a particularly delectable interception and the hosts more than matched their opponents in the closing, in fact winning the quarter and giving their new Head Coach reason to reflect kindly on some of the action she had seen. However, the damage had been done and experience won out. The superior movement, vision and speed of Storm had seen them cruise to an opening victory and the notoriously slow starting Mavericks were up to their old tricks again.