On Thursday 9th November, 14 Year 9 Netballers attended their first NI Netball League blitz at the Forum. The girls all played their part in one or more of the matches that were played. Each match was 20 minutes in total including turnaround time. As such, this was as true test of their fitness.
The first game was against St Ciaran’s, Ballygawley. The girls played hard from the start ensuring that they kept the opposition well away from our defensive goal. With both shooters on form, the match was won 8-2.
The next match was against St Fanchea’s, Enniskillen. With a few tweaks to the line-up, the girls played an end-to-end match which was fought with real passion. The pace of the game meant that errors were made on both sides. Fortunately, we scored and eased a bit of pressure. Thanks to sterling work by our Goalkeeper and Goal Defence – the St Fanchea’s girls were prevented from scoring. Final score was 1-0.
Match 3 was against Mount Lourdes, Enniskillen – the girls were very keyed up over this Match. The play was tight from the start with both teams vying for possession of the ball. Excellent play in both attack and defence ensured that the ball reached our circle where the shooters were on hand to slot the ball into the net. The girls won this tough match 4-2.
Our final game was against St Joseph’s, Donaghmore. This was a team that we have never encountered before but on watching them in previous games, we knew they would be no push over. From the whistle, our girls came out in attack mode and quickly secured a goal. Shortly afterwards there was another. The girls settled and played their own game, securing a further 2 goals before the half time. A re-jig of players in our team allowed the St Joseph’s girls to take advantage of the new arrangement and score. Not long afterwards however, our team had settled and scored a goal of their own. Final score, 5-1 to ERGS.
The entire Blitz was very evenly contested, with all of the schools and their players acquitting themselves very well. This bodes well for the future of Netball in Fermanagh and Tyrone.
Squad
- Kaitlyn Read
- Andreja Budriute
- Lauren Cawley
- Evie Dundas
- Abi McCordick
- Beth Bradley
- Clodagh Donaghy
- Eliana Foy
- Alice Black
- Mia McCabe
- Leah Topping
- Iona Tyson
- Ella Wylie
- Alex McDonagh
