Confident Second Half for Youth

Saturday 24th November 2007
Won 55 - 23

The game started with a great atmosphere and both teams were eager to put on a good show. Tight marking from the Northern Thunder Youth team made it hard for the Mavericks Youth to get the ball into the circle. However, consistent man to man marking all the way down the court from the Mavericks Youth created many turn overs for the squad, this was then put together with good attacking skills driving the ball to the top of the circle and Mavericks Youth managed to take the lead. At the end of the first quarter the score was Mavericks Youth on 11 goals and Northern Thunder Youth on 7 goals.

The second quarter saw a change for the Mavericks Youth squad with Adele Burnett coming onto the court as Center. A change in the Thunder Youth defence seemed to make it harder for the attack, but with a good consistency of balls coming down from the defending end the attack managed to cope with the changes and lift their game. Defensively Mavericks Youth seemed to be dominant, with pressure put on every ball thrown by Thunder Youth. Both attacking and defending players showed strong defending skills coming down court throughout the quarter, which helped to secure the lead. At the end of the second quarter the score was Mavericks Youth on 19 goals and Northern Thunder Youth on 12 goals.

The third quarter saw many changes to Mavericks Youth. Ellese Lee came on as Goal Keeper, Stephanie Collard moved to Goal Defence, Natalie Brookes came on as Wing Defence, Charlotte South came on as Goal Attack and Chantelle Hankin moved to Goal Shooter. This however did not phase the team who continued to excel in their game. The third quarter saw Mavericks Youth become the dominant team on court. Strong attacking coming down court, combined with good back up in defence and definite feeds into the circle, helped Mavericks Youth to pull away with a 14 goal lead. At the end of the third quarter the score was Mavericks Youth on 34 goals and Northern Thunder Youth on 20 goals.

With a 14 goal lead Mavericks Youth seemed confident of a win, but the fight was not over yet. The fourth quarter saw further changes to the squad, Natalie Brookes moved to Centre, Laura O’Mahony came back on as Wing Defence and Adele Burnett moved to Wing Attack. The last quarter was when it all came together for the Mavericks Youth squad. Brilliant netball was seen in both attack and defence and Mavericks Youth seem to go full speed ahead. With no stopping the Youth squad the lead sawed to a 30 goal difference! Only succeeding 3 goals for the Thunder Youth team throughout the quarter. At the end of the game the score was Mavericks Youth with 55 goals and Northern Thunder Youth with 23 goals. A result to be proud of.

Overall there was impressive netball seen by both teams, with Mavericks Youth achieving their second win of the season. Proving that all their hard work at training is paying off. It was a well fought game with a good result for the team.

By Francesca Plom
(Mavericks Youth)

Thanks to our reporter Fran for capturing the important parts of this exciting match. All photographs shown were take by the Mavericks Official Photographer Kevin Jones.