Surrey brew and conquer youthful Bath to remain undefeated in FNSL
This week has been a very busy week in the FNSL world, with four matches set to be played and with some of the big contenders impressing and progressing in their campaigns. Now the competition is well underway and this Friday evening saw Team Bath vs last year’s runners up, Surrey Storm, who have got their season off to a flying start, winning their previous two matches by very comfortable margins. So it wasn’t surprising that Team Bath had a big challenge ahead of them, especially against such an experienced team. With the dangerous attacking trio of Rachel Dunn, Tamsin Greenway and Pamela Cookey, all previous superstars in the Team Bath squad, the home team needed to go all out to get the result they wanted, to go against the odds and impress yet another spirited sell-out crowd.
But it was Surrey Storm that certainly lived up to their name in the first quarter by storming ahead and getting the goals on the board that were vital in setting the pace of the game. Their first centre pass was textbook and demonstrated the class that would set the hosts trailing. With the ball being passed out to Greenway and then down the line to Cookey, Storm skilfully got the ball straight through the Team Bath defence within seconds from the first whistle. The home team conceded four goals before GA Kadeen Corbin was able to sink her first shot and it wasn’t for another four goals until they scored their second, this reflecting a Team Bath side that were being let down by their shooters. At the opposite end of the court, however, Dunn was not failing to impress. Receiving overhead balls in the perfect position from her team mates and shooting from a wide range of areas in the circle, the England shooter had a fantastic first quarter. Although the Team Bath defending pair Sam Cook and Gemma Fletcher did get some incisive interceptions and WD Becky Watkins made some great takes going through the mid court, but their hard work was not being utilised in the attacking third, leaving the first quarter ending Surrey Storm 21- 8 Team Bath.
The second quarter, however, saw Team Bath beginning to show their determined spirit and fight back, and just as it was in their match against Northern Thunder, it emerged that the young side had taken the first quarter to warm up. With the welcome return of Yasmin Parsons at her debut home game, the home team were ready to do some damage and win the quarter through Parsons and Mia Ritchie working the ball together around the circle, and finding the best opportunities to pass feed into Corbin and Asha Francis. Again there were glimpses of brilliance from the developing side, with clever plays, daring passes and moments that got the crowd gasping and cheering. Attacking the Surrey Storm defence saw Ritchie single-handedly holding onto an over thrown ball going out of play, turning in the air and passing it straight into the hands of Francis. But even with such excellence and the constant support to attack from players such as Watkins, the inconsistency and also enduring skill of Storm saw them maintaining pressure, with Natalie Seaton making vital interceptions in mid-court to keep an eleven point lead, with the half time score at 36-25 to Surrey Storm.
With Team Bath winning the second quarter and the gap slowly declining, the half time break saw Storm bringing on Kathryn Ainsworth to centre adding to an already faultless attack. Both Ainsworth and Greenway provided heavy support to Cookey and Dunn, placing the ball just where they wanted it and not forcing it into the circle. Undeniably Cookey was also proving dangerous outside of the circle, turning over a Bath centre pass by timing a perfect interception. With constant turnovers from both sides a yo-yoing third quarter set a buzz through the crowd as relentless defender Cook made interception after interception and dominated on rebounds, then for the ball only to be lost further up court. Storm also gave away chances through penalties but kept their unstoppable lead with Dunn scoring in the last remaining seconds of the quarter making it 52-40 to the visiting side.
The final fifteen minutes of the game saw this season’s debut of Team Bath’s Scarlett Williams at WD to help maintain a secure centre court and although both sides were tiring after a very intense game, they didn’t stop showing their talent. After Greenway tries a long overhead pass to Dunn on the backline Storm are stopped again by the extensive reach of Cook, who effortlessly moves the ball up court for it to eventually be converted by Francis. Storm also drill their opponents further in the final quarter, with centre passes going straight to Dunn under the post in just 3 passes and also Cookey managing to completely separate herself from both Cook and Fletcher, leaving herself wide open under the post to score. With possession changing so rapidly the last few seconds of the game saw both sides fight for the final goal!
With the crowd counting down the final ten seconds of the game the final play saw Cookey, Dunn, Cook and Fletcher all leap up to get the rebound, but it was the Team Bath defence that stopped Storm from scoring and ending the game Surrey Storm 65 Team Bath 52. So after a great performance from Surrey Storm another win has left them undefeated this season, making them one of the teams to beat in the FNSL 2012 so far. Although Team Bath have seen their third loss, and will be frustrated with their wasted opportunities and lack of goals, they are the team with the lowest goal difference of all of Storm’s opponents so far and definitely have the potential and will keep improving with each game.
Match Report courtesy of Tia Skinner, on behalf of England Netball
Starting line-ups:
Team Bath: GS - Asah Francis , GA - Kadeen Corbin, WA - Mia Ritchie, C - Amanda Trounce, WD - Becky Watkins, GD - Gemma Fletcher , GK - Sam Cook. Bench: Kat Hayes, Kate McGinley, Emily Rose, Scarlett Williams, Yasmin Parsons
Surrey Storm: GS - Rachel Dunn, GA - Pamela Cookey, WA - Tamsin Greenway, C - Becky Trippick, WD - Natalie Seaton, GD - Katy Holland, GK - Hannah Reid. Bench: Adele Modeste, Rhiane Mchale, Kathryn Ainsworth, Lorraine Betsy, Stef Bello
Shooting Stats:
Team Bath: Corbin: 71.74%, Francis: 76.00%
Surrey Storm: Dunn: 90.00%, Cookey: 80.00%