On Wednesday 21st February our Minor and Inter Teams travelled to Omagh High School for their last match (Minors) and penultimate match (Inters).
The welcome and atmosphere in Omagh was excellent and helped to put our girls at ease.
The Inters were up first and right from the start, they took control of the game. Fantastic play from the whole squad ensured that our shooters received the ball and slotted practically every shot into the net. Sasha Milne, Mya Binnom, Rhian Thompson and Zoe Ferguson were truly on top form.
The midfield of Trudie MacComb, Charlotte McCutcheon, Megan Rodgers, Elise Black and Jasmine Dooris worked well together (in the various quarters). Excellent communication and marking ensuring that Omagh saw little of the ball. When the ball did make it down to the Omagh circle, Ellen Bloomfield, Rhea Holmes and Molly Beavis made very sure that it resulted in very few goals.
Unfortunately, an ankle injury to shooter Sasha in the 4th quarter meant that she had to retire early, however, Rhian stepped up to the mark without a worry.
After 40 minutes of game time, the score was 38-13 to ERGS. A well-deserved victory.
Next up were the Minors in their last game. Each of their encounters thus far have been very tight games. This was to be no different.
We fielded a slightly weakened squad as two of our team were otherwise engaged at the Ulster Cross Country Championships. On the up side though, our GD, Poppy Clarke returned to the side after illness, giving a much-needed boost to the side.
Once again, shooters Lauren Booth and Rachel Cullinan were on form. An early collision between Poppy and an Omagh player meant that despite attempting to play on, Poppy had to retire with an injured knee during the 1st quarter. A re-shuffled side again for the young ERGS side, meant that they had to dig deep to find their form. This they did. Despite trailing by two goals at half time, the girls fought back to go into the lead during the 3rd quarter. Some great play in defence by Rachel Clarke and Gemma Storey ensured that we were always in with a fighting chance.
Rachel Mullan, Abi Brock, Jessica Hogg worked superbly in midfield, giving the team a lot of support in both attack and defence.
Despite our brief spell of being in the lead, the girls finished the 3rd quarter trailing by 1 point. In the last quarter, it was very tense, Omagh would get a goal, only for ERGS to come back at them. Finally though, Omagh just managed to pull away in the last few minutes, winning by 17 points to 13.
A very well-fought game. The girls should all be very proud of themselves as they never once gave up, playing some excellent Netball.
Next Fixtures – Inters vs Holy Trinity, Cookstown – Thursday 1st March
- Year 9 Blitz @ Fivemiletown – Friday 9th March
- Year 8 Blitz@ Mount Lourdes – Thursday 26th April
