Hearts win against Redditch 55-49!

Hearts kept their cool 😎 and played an organised game with great presentation for the ball, waiting for an accurate pass and defensive reading of the oppositions play.

A great game for Katia as GS and an amazing show from the defensive circle with special mention to Pippa for playing up. They’re clean intercepts and conversions to goal won us the game! 🎉

Well deserved player to Natalie ⭐ who always finds a great space but also ignites a positive energy on and off court. Overall a really enjoyable game and in the sunshine too!🌞

By Lauren Goymer – Team Captain

A bitterly cold evening with a sweet result .
Diamonds came out on top 49 points to 14 conceded against Redditch opals .
Great feedback from coach Sarah who noted great timing and movement on and off the ball . The goal line passes were also excellent.
The team were quiet and not distracted by lots of shouting , they instinctively knew where their players were .

By Kim – Manager of Diamonds

2nd game for Queens tonight against an experienced BDR team. There was some lovely patient attacking through court with the defence bringing the ball up and linking well with attack. Defence worked tirelessly all game to put their attack under pressure time and again. So much to be proud of. Final score ATNC 23 BDR 29

By Debbie Marshall – Captain of Queens

Summer league started with a bang!

Team Clubs, newly promoted to division 2, secured a fabulous win against the mighty Jaguars 42-37. Team Hearts, continuing in 1st division, struggled without a few of their players including shooters against top of previous leagues, Alvechurch Panthers with a loss 62-9! Ouch! Our newly formed team Queens, who have only been training together for 3 months, played our youngest, established team Diamonds which saw Diamonds slick play gain them a win 57-19. Unfortunately for Team Aces their game had to be abandoned due to their court being double booked! 😕

Team Clubs and Team Diamonds after their wins!

Alcester Hearts vs Panthers
Final score Hearts 43-55
Well done to all of those that played today. Especially Gemma Ward, Grace Connolly, Grace Taylor and Leah Wood for playing after your own match!
There are so many positives to take away from today: movement through court, patience on the feed, defensive pressure on the opponent’s centre pass to name a few. Excellent circle rotation against a very tough defence by Gemma and Lauren Goymer was a pleasure to watch, with Lauren receiving a very well deserved POM. Report by Natalie Stockdale

A fantastic match between Clubs and CBH today.
Clubs came out incredibly strong with Emily controlling the game at centre and Jeanette and Gemma on fire from the outset. It was also great to see Suzanne back on court and continuing the brilliant defending duo with Lou.
There was a bit of a wobble in the third quarter when legs began to tire and CBH started to pick up their game, but it was soon squashed when original positions were resumed in the 4th quarter.
Final score was 30-39 to clubs!
Fantastic play by everyone, but particular shout outs to Joe and Emily for slotting into the team so well, and Gemma and Jeanette for clicking from the outset. Jeanette’s great movement and shooting stats also gave her a very well deserved player of the match. Report by Rose Pendlebury

Aces v Blossomfield Bees
Aces lose 36-42

A tough match today but plenty of positives to take away.
Defensive pressure was excellent throughout the match forcing errors and gaining turnovers.
Movement bringing the ball from defence into attack was great.
Some good rotation and movement in the shooting circle too!

We started the match going 6-0 down in the first 5 minutes – this is a theme that seems to happen to us every match. We struggle to hit the ground running and get an early lead.

All in all a close game throughout, and one we lost ultimately due to our shakey start.
Players player Gemma Ward and Captain’s Player was given to Chloe Hancox for some brilliant play both defensively and into attack. Report by Gemma Ward.

The sun shone brightly with temperatures of 24 degrees! Hearts played first against a very disciplined CBH 1. Missing 4 of their regular players, they were assisted by some Aces players. A rocky start but Hearts pulled it back during the second quarter to get level, however there were a lot of unforced errors, particularly in attack. CBH’s shooters were on form and rarely missed a shot.

Final score loss 59-29.

Team Aces v Team Clubs

It was always going to be a close game with Clubs having been promoted to 2nd division. A disciplined Clubs team, who have welcomed back Emily Grainger to ATNC, had a strong squad and the newly married Debbie Marshall, stepped in as GS. Team Aces struggled in the heat with 3 of them having already played for Hearts. Final score Clubs 43 Aces 31