I’m going to preface this report by saying it was actually a really good game. The team went flying into the first quarter, taking the lead.

Things then took a slight turn when we swapped ends in the second quarter and we were under the scrutiny of the other umpire (not ours, obvs) and shockingly everything that we did was called up, it was almost like we’ve never played a game of netball before. To name a few:

• Our shooters contacted more than the defenders ever did!
• Apparently our centre court players forgot they weren’t allowed in the D as they were called up for being offside so much!
• Three seconds is a lot shorter than we initially thought it was!
• It turns out you can’t move your feet when you have the ball, who knew!

So either our standard of play has dropped significantly, or there was a slight issue with the umpiring (or her eyesight at least).

Anyway we won the game, and, despite the above, it was a great game. Our flow and timing was good, we kept any interceptions safe and we adapted where we had to – in the circumstances…

Well done to everyone for great play and remaining resilient under the harsh conditions.

Shout out to Jeanette who won player, despite ALL of the contact against the defenders she was called up for 👏🏼

♣️ 51 – 39 Hotshots

Written by Ellie – Player

Aces match against Firefox Foxes was conceded by the opposition, so 5 points for a win and 25-0 on the score board! We will take that thank you.

Final score 73-35 to Alvechurch Pink Panthers against Hearts. It was a tough game to start as Hearts got slightly trapped by Panthers great zoning at times. However, over the course of the game, Hearts learnt to stick to shorter passes and work their way strategically through the court. Great advice from Natalie to keep moving through the zone and draw defenders away left pockets to receive the ball.
A game with a lot to learn but well done again for keeping cool and supporting each other on court.

Written by Lauren – Captain

Great game with a 51-19 win for Diamonds against Hotshot Hornets .
The first quarter saw a 17-3 lead by Diamonds. Their passing was slick throughout the game and included some great interceptions from several of the team Edie, Poppy B and Poppy M , Georgina and Chiara.
Q2 was wobbly with Chiara taking full brunt of a 3 person collision. She bravely got back up and carried on .
Q3 Chiara came off and Stacey from Queens offered to play up for Diamonds. Stacey slotted into the game seamlessly.
Q4 shots in the net were on fire 🔥 with some incredibly long distances resulting in praise from Hotshots . Eliza, despite her initial nerves at shooting, proved to herself she could do it.
Well done to Chloe on player of the match .
Thank you Stacey for supporting while Chiara rested .
Chiara we all hope you’re feeling better.

Written by Kim – Team Manager

Newly appointed coach Elaine tried lots of combinations, therefore everyone’s versatility and positive moves came together for some great match play.
Strong defence from Beth, Stacey, Lucinda and Debbie, detonated the court with their mighty interceptions and marking. This enabled the attacker, Sophie, to hold her own and get into some great spaces. Her accuracy in passing, aided Amy and Gem to feed the ball down the line, alongside Beth’s yo yo-ing ball skills up and down the court and never faulting under pressure. This massively helped to assist the shooters Hayley, Amy and Gem, be able to deliver some next level shots.
The final score did not do the girls justice!! It should have been a closer finish, however the opposition just did not give up their fast pace and motivation for the score to be in their favour 41-28.
Players player goes to Gem for amazing movement throughout the court, always fighting for the ball and incredible shooting. (Soph wrote this)
Captains player goes to Beth for discovering she can take flight in mid court and her fierce interceptions.
Can’t wait for the next match!!

Written by Gemma & Sophie – Players

Great game Diamonds 💎 against Ryland Rapidz with final score 41-28 to Diamonds.
It started with “ where’s Grandad? He has the coin for the toss”.
In the first quarter Diamonds took their time to work out Rapidz’s style and settle into the game, 8-9 to Rapidz on the whistle .
Second Q Diamonds’ 💎 game plan kicked into action with some great interceptions against 2 very tall defensive players, which continued through the next quarter 21-17 to Diamonds 💎.
Third Q saw Diamonds’ game become slick with the movement of the ball down the court 29-22, thus leading to the amazing long distance shots into the D in Q 4 .
This resulted in a whoop from Elaine !
Well done to chiara on player of the match .
A superb game to watch !

Written by Kim – Team Manager

It was a messy start, probably due to the weather, as everyone was cautious of the slippery court. This meant that we were more reluctant to chase after loose balls and on a few occasions just watched them roll away… 😂

The reluctance to move, along with some strong marking from the opposition, meant that we were often in the same space, and there were a few held balls.

Despite this, we held the lead throughout the game. The defence utilised rebounds from the opposition’s missed shots as usual, movement down the court was perfectly timed and there was some good steady play once we found our rhythm.

Player is shared by Emily and Suzanne, we’re not sure for certain who the opposition actually chose but both played really well so we can understand why it was a hard decision!

A good result for a wet game and a slippery ball💧well played everyone!

♣️ Clubs 37 – 33 Warwickshire Warriors

Written by Ellie – Clubs player

The report I’ve been waiting to write….
Queens 41 Redditch Opals 32 ❤️🖤👑
Beyond proud to be writing this. Everything we have talked about and practised started to come together. A massive team effort with everyone working together.
Awesome work in the attacking end with really patient work around the circle by Sophie Smithers . Great baseline drives by Frankie Woods backed up by positive movement and fabulous shooting Amy-Sue Widman. Excellent and patient work by Beth Young despite being battered around. The defence played their part frustrating Opals attack and forcing them to feed from further and further out giving Stacey Carrington a huge number of intercepts in the last quarter. Tight marking by Lucinda Granger backed up by Beth Middleton forced the errors that we were able to capitalise on and transition the ball through court
Players player Frankie
Captains player Stacey
Enjoy that feeling Queens. You deserve it

Written by Debbie – Team Captain

43-14 Aces vs Hotshot Hornets 2
Wow – Aces really brought their A game! From the start we were in the lead and kept building quarter on quarter!
A wonderful game from all. Leah, Katie and Pippa worked fabulous as a team getting constant turnovers and limiting the ball going into the circle. Leah and Katie had great leans with lots of interceptions in the D! Movement through court with Izzy and Sarah was smooth and the transition into Chloe in attack was seamless. The feeds into the D from Sarah/ Izzy and Chloe were great and the movement and shooting from Gemma and Grace was amazing!
We’ve been putting into place some possession work especially in the third and final quarters in order to tire out our opposition and limit the time they have to score goals – this worked really well today and allowed us to control the game and the pace! We really held our heads up today and played our own game which was wonderful to watch!
Aces are going from strength to strength this season!
Well done girls!!

Written by Pippa – Aces player

In the rearranged netball match against Ryland Rays, it was a close battle till the end with a final score of 33-27 to Aces.

Great defending from Katie, tippy pippy and Leah. They all did an amazing job in keeping the opposition’s attackers out of the D and got some great interceptions. They also assisted in bringing the ball down court, passing it through to Eliza, who did a great job playing up and she really fitted in with the team. Gemma helped with ensuring smooth transitions into attack and fed some brilliant feeds into the D. Grace and Chloe had their shooting game on, showing some great movement and skill throughout the game.

Overall, the team showed excellent movement off the ball, which helped them create scoring opportunities. They also kept their heads in the game, maintaining focus which is something we really focus on as a team. An area to work on is playing at your own speed, we easily get carried away with the opposition’s speed of play and this affects our gameplay at times. 🏐🏐

Well played girlies ❤️

Written by Grace T – Aces player