Charlie Wood and Tom Henigan
UoN surged to a late 48-45 victory against arch rivals NTU at the David Ross Sports Village. Exceptional performances from Niamh Trainer and Lily Smith drove the Green and Gold to triumph amidst fears of certain defeat late in the 4th quarter. NTU entered the game seeking a fourth straight win in Varsity Netball while UoN looked to end their strong season by regaining the Varsity Netball crown for the first time since 2021.
An electrifying start saw NTU race into a 4-0 lead. Regan Peters opened the scoring for UoN to get them back in the game but NTU continued to control the flow of the game for the first eight minutes. The hosts managed to withstand the NTU pressure, though, as a flurry of scores from captain Niamh Trainer saw UoN bring the score back to 7-7 with five minutes left in the first quarter, with the visitors having led 7-2 to start the game.
Trainer continued to dominate the attacking third with another exceptional finish, before turning provider for Peters with a lovely no-look pass to make it 9-9. Trainer’s next score made it 10-9, giving UoN their first lead of the evening, before she scored two more times as the first quarter came to an end with UoN leading 12-9.
NTU raced out to a 16-12 lead as their Vice Captain Sophie Murray replicated the form of Trainer from the first quarter
The second quarter was dominated by NTU. Just as they started the better side in the first quarter, the visitors emulated their fast start in the second period the game. NTU raced out to a 16-12 lead as their Vice Captain Sophie Murray replicated the form of Trainer from the first quarter, hoisting her team into a commanding position in the match. Trent limited the supply to Trainer and had more of the ball as UoN’s centre, Milly Bairstow, was unable to control the game like she did in the latter parts of the first quarter.
Despite the dominance of the visitors, UoN were able to salvage something from the first half, as a couple of scores from Trainer kept her side in the game as the players left the court for halftime.
At the halfway point, NTU led 22-19 as UoN’s coach, Paige Reed of England Netball, looked to inspire her players in the team-talk.
UoN made a few changes for the second half as Lily Smith moved from Wing Attack to Goal Attack, and Bairstow moved from Centre to Wing Attack, with Izzy Cunnington moving to Centre and Alexia Saunders coming into the game at Wing Defence.
UoN’s strong defence started to contain Murray well
It looked as if NTU were going to continue the trend of starting each quarter stronger as they scored the first two points of the third quarter but the hosts ensured the game didn’t get away from them. UoN’s strong defence started to contain Murray well, whereas Trainer continued to look unstoppable in the final third.
UoN’s rearrangement of positions was paying off as Cunnington was winning the Centre battle against her opposite number, Katie Gough, giving chances to Smith and Trainer in NTU’s area.
The first 12 minutes of the 3rd quarter were controlled by UoN as the visitors struggled to adapt to the changes Reed made to her team at the break, with the hosts taking a 33-31 lead.
But NTU ensured the game remained close with the 4th quarter on the horizon, fighting back to take a 34-33 lead, as Reed became increasingly frustrated with the officiating from the sideline. Trainer tied the game with 20 seconds to go before the end of the 3rd, leaving the score at 34-34 with a crucial 4th quarter approaching.
After three years in a row of disappointment, this was a massive opportunity for the Green and Gold’s Netball team to get revenge on their rivals for the past three Varsity meetings.
UoN scored the first two points of the 4th quarter through Smith but NTU responded strongly. The visitors’ Goal Defence, Rihanna Luke, was everywhere at the start of the decisive quarter, seemingly intercepting every UoN pass.
Murray continued to be clinical, helping her side into a healthy 45-41 lead with less than five minutes remaining. UoN needed some momentum if they wanted to end Trent’s years of success in Varsity Netball.
Trainer continued to do all she could, with some great shots from range to draw her team closer.
With NTU leading 45-42, and less than four minutes left on the clock, tensions began to rise inside David Ross Sports Village. But Trainer was the coolest person in the building as she continued to bring her team back in the game.
The NTU fans could only watch on as Trainer gave the Green and Gold a 46-45 lead with two minutes to go
All of a sudden, the momentum of the game had swung completely as the UoN defence continued to prove impossible to break down, before Smith tied the game with a great finish. The UoN crowd was becoming a huge factor in the game, while the NTU fans could only watch on as Trainer gave the Green and Gold a 46-45 lead with two minutes to go after some great passing play, with UoN’s captain linking up well with Bairstow and Smith.
Freya Henshall, Netball Super League’s restricted NTU Goal Attack, could only watch on as UoN flourished in the final moments.
Murray had a rare miss as UoN’s defence stood strong again with the crowd fully behind them. Luckily for the Green and Gold, Smith kept her cool, extending the home side’s lead to 48-45 as the clock wound down to zero.
The UoN bench spilt onto the court as the home side ended Trent’s three year win streak in Varsity Netball thanks to a 7-0 run to end the game.
The win in the Netball gave UoN a 2-1 lead in the 2025 Varsity series.
Charlie Wood and Tom Henigan
In article image 1 courtesy of @uonnetballclub via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.?
In article image 2 courtesy of @ntu_netball via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.?
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