On Friday 14th February, the Year 10 Netball team headed off for their Annual Netball Blitz – kindly hosted this year at Erne Integrated College in their new Sportshall.
This year, three of the four schools also brought a second team, so we were able to hold a 2ndLeague as well
The matches were long and quite physical giving all teams the opportunity to really get stuck into the games.
Our first game in the 1st League was against our hosts, Erne Integrated. This was a chance for both teams to get a feel for how each other played. ERGS took the upper hand straight away with very smooth play from the centre – Anna Wilson, to Amy Colton and then into Amanda Farrell for the score. This pattern continued with slight variation when the passes went to Aimee Ross and also to Isla Rowland. Our defence was called on and coped admirably with Olivia Beavis and Jane Black ensuring that few goals were scored. Final score – 12-3 to ERGS.
Immediately afterwards, the 2nd team were in action in the 2nd league against St Fanchea’s College. For our ERGS team, this was a good game for them to get stuck in. The play was much slower than the previous game, partly due to nerves but also due to our team stepping off the pace and pressure too easily. There were some strong passes between centre, Emma Egerton, to Wings Katherine Armstrong and Ashley Beaumont. From there, the two shooters, Jess Ferguson and Amara Brady were on form to get the ball into the net. The defence of Hollie Beatty and Natasha McKeown were not overly taxed in the first half, handling any attack on our goal circle very effectively. In the second half however, Emily-Jane Bloomfield at Wing defence and Ella McFarland at Goal defence had more work to do as the St Fanchea’s team tried to come back into the game. Our combined strength held them at bay, with the final score being – 12-0 to ERGS.
With games constantly on court, both teams were able to see their opponents in action and suss out their strengths and weaknesses prior to facing them.
The 2nd team were up again against St Kevin’s, Lisnaskea. This was a strong team and a force to be reckoned with. The girls took to the court buoyant from the previous match. They quickly came to realise that this was a very different team. We were down 3 goals before Jess slotted her first one away. This was reassuring, but it was clear that the girls were struggling against a taller and more confident team. St Kevin’s continued to slot the goals in, with ERGS answering sporadically. After a pep talk at half time, the ERGS team picked themselves up and began to play the netball they know they can play. They began to claw back some goals and had many more attempts in our circle. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough – final score, 13-6 to St Kevin’s.
Next up, ERGS 1st team came on court to play the St Kevin’s 1st team. It couldn’t have been a more different result. Our girls were on a mission to control this game from start to finish. They did this with Amanda and Isla between them putting away 8 goals in the first half and adding a further 9 in the second half. Anna had free run on the court and was a formidable force to stop. Jane and Olivia were really strong in defence, preventing the ball even from entering the circle bar one occasion. Amy and Aimee were super as Wings, enabling the ball to transition smoothly along the court. Only one goal was scored against the team, giving them a 17-1 victory. A real team victory.
The 2nd team had to wait until the very last match to see who would win their league. It turned out that the St Kevin’s girls were also too strong for the St Fanchea’s girls, ensuring them 1st place in that league with our ERGS team 2nd. A good result.
The 2nd last match in the 1st League would decide the winner of the League as by this stage, St Fanchea’s had won 2 matches and ERGS had won 2 matches. Crunch time. This was to be no walkover. Both teams wanted the win. Our girls wanted to make it 3 wins in a row – Year 8, Year 9 and now Year 10 whereas St Fanchea’s wanted to put an end to that. Game on.
Both teams took to the court and from the whistle, it was evident that they both meant business. Despite the ball getting into the circle reasonably quickly for ERGS, we just couldn’t score. This was unnerving – fortunately the same thing was happening to St Fanchea’s. With the pace frenetic throughout, both teams suffered – passes were mis-fed or intercepted and errors were forced. Eventually, scores did happen, but it was almost for naught as half time saw the scores level 4-4. During the lull between halves, both coaches were telling their teams to slow it down – take their time and make their passes/shots count. St Fanchea’s did this better from the re-start, gaining the lead by 2 points. Not to be overlooked, the ERGS girls slowed it down and got the two points back. With very little time left, Amanda got goal number 7. All they had to do was hold on. With a massive team effort, they managed this, and we were all relieved to hear the final buzzer sound. 7-6 to ERGS, winners for the third year in a row.
Congratulations to everyone for a well fought tournament.
