The University of Nottingham lost 44-33 in the netball varsity after a gutsy performance, leaving the overall varsity series score at a comfortable 6-2.
Before the match, Netball President Annie Matthews was positive; “it will be very close, but I think UoN will have the edge”. Following this, the game began very much in UoN’s favour. The game started with the UoN girls on fire, within five minutes of the first whistle we were 6-4 up. However Trent worked hard to close this gap and finished the quarter 11-10 up.
After a quick team talk, the UoN girls were back and fighting, firing three shots straight off the whistle. The strong unit of Jaffa, Bewick and Davie must be commended for fantastic teamwork in the attacking end. This quarter was tough, each team matched every goal the rival scored, resulting in a very close end to the half, which finished at a dramatic 20-20.
In the third quarter, Trent started to pull away, despite incredible defending by UoN Goal Defence Kamara. A dramatic injury from Davie resulted in the flow of the game being disrupted and Lewis coming on as GA. Despite the whistle ending the third quarter 34-28. UoN were confident they could get it back; in netball terms, six goals is easily do-able.
Going into the last quarter, UoN were fighting hard but despite plenty of chances, were struggling to get shots in. Once Trent got 10 goals ahead and reached the 40 mark, the crowd knew it was over. With 5 minutes left on the clock, the girls gave it their all, never admitting defeat or letting their guard slip, and were rewarded with a few more accurately placed goals.
The UoN netball girls gave a really commendable performance in such a high paced game. The crowd never stopped cheering the girls on, leading them to fight to the end! The whole club photo at the end showed how close the club is, and the unwavering support throughout highlighted the fact that this really was a whole club effort, and they made the University of Nottingham very proud!
President Annie Matthews said:
“The girls all have such an incredible performance with solid through court defence and imagination in attack, Trent played a great game and were deserved winners. The support from the club was great thoughout and it was a really tense game and amazing atmosphere.”
Georgie Lack
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Image: dgtl Concepts photographer Emma Billinger
