1st netball girls beat closest rivals

On Saturday, 28 February Haileybury’s 1st netball team took on opposition from three schools in our first home fixture of the season.

Haileybury’s strength in depth shone through as the team achieved impressive results against schools who are considered to be among our strongest rivals.

The starting match for the 1^st team was Mill Hill. After a well-drilled warm-up, the team was eager for action and immediately exerted pressure on the Mill Hill defence. Slick inter-passing, well-timed, quick moves and excellent shooting from Harrie Griffith-Jones and Louisa Sorensen ensured that Haileybury won by 18 goals to 8.

Our second challenge was King’s Canterbury who has always been tough opposition and has a team of high calibre players. The Haileybury team rose to the challenge and quickly started to build a lead. Defensive interceptions and strong marking from Freddie Waites, Jade Sexton and Jess Iszatt cut down Kings’ quick ball into the circle and ultimately their shooting chances. A four-goal lead was built up and despite a short burst of accurate shots from Kings’, Haileybury never looked under threat. The final score of 10-8 was a well-deserved victory.

The final match versus Felsted – whose first squad is also very quick and well skilled – proved to sum up how well Haileybury played all afternoon. Our defence remained sharp and in control. Accurate interplay in the centre court was matched by quick moves and fast ball skills between Alice Coley and the circle attack who in turn were accurate in shooting and first to react to loose balls. Olivia Chapman as Centre expertly controlled the whole game and when Susie Carr was swapped in as WA, she maintained the sharpness within our attacks. The final score of 14-6 summed up a tremendous squad performance.