Match Report - Team Thunder 21.10.2018

Thunder had  a shaky start and Hovelands accurate shooters gave them the advantage early on. But it didn't last long. After about 10 minutes Ruth Chamings and Daisy Totterdell disrupted passages of play and we capitalised to have a 5 goal lead at the first break.  The game was played at a faster pace than recently and Lucy Burnett and Nicole Lathwell worked well off the ball to create space in attack.  In the 2nd quarter Hovelands changed their defensive set up but Thunder adapted, and it felt that Thunder were winning it easily with many turnovers (lots of breaking from Hovelands on centre passes helped too), but whenever Hovelands had the ball, they must have scored, as Thunder only matched their first quarter scoreline. At half time Lucy had a well-deserved rest and Katrina Venner was recovered enough to take to the court. She couldn't pass to Lorraine Cleverdon Brend for the first three balls, but that improved thankfully! Louise Lathwell and Cleverdon Brend shooting was superb and the communication between Nicole and Kat enabled them to get the ball to the circle edge. The defence continued to pick up ball and Rowan Fitzsimmons read the game brilliantly to make off-line interceptions.  Thunder extended their lead to 17 goals going into the final quarter.  In the final quarter, Thunder made more changes, and Hovelands tried yet another defensive strategy, although Thunder worked the ball through the mid and end court zones effectively, with many short passes and 1-2's, they couldn't quite finish it off, and the many tips landed in the opponents hands or great interceptions were fumbled. The pressure was off and although the effort level didn't decrease, Thunder couldn't quite replicate the previous quarters and list the final quarter by one goal. The final score was a superb win 48-32.  Rowan Fitzsimmons was voted player from Hovelands and Daisy Totterdell was vote by Thunder.  Once again a great team effort.

Team Line up:  Daisy Totterdell, Ruth Chamings, Rowan Fitzsimmons, Lucy Burnett, Lorraine Cleverdon Brend, Nicole Lathwell, Louise Lathwell & Katrina Venner.