Cowie Ladies 26 CNR 31
Match Report by Sabaah Arshed
COWIE Ladies faced Canadian Natural Resources last Thursday in their final netball match of the season.
After their triumphant win against NST the week before, Cowie were confident going into the match and eager to make this the 'icing on the cake'. The Stonehaven side were sitting just below CNR in the league table so were looking for a win to put them ahead.
CNR won the toss but a clever interception by Cowie led to their first goal on the score sheet. This continued, with Cowie capitalising on many of CNR's loose balls and errors. CNR did give Cowie a run for their money picking up many of their silly passes.
Cowie managed to take the lead early with close marking, short, sharp passes, good interceptions and moving in for rebounds proving to be good strengths for the team. The first quarter score was Cowie 8 - CNR 6.
The second quarter proved more difficult. The team gave themselves major problems by bunching on court and not making enough space. As a result, CNR were able to pull it back. With this Cowie quickly seemed to lose momentum giving away balls through foolish errors.
Although Cowie were able to make some great interceptions and their defence was doing well CNR proved the stronger team resulting in the half- time score at Cowie 9 – CNR 17. After a few team changes and a half- time team talk, Cowie went on with no doubt as to what needed to be done.
The team were quickly able to get a few goals back, taking advantage of CNR's contact and loopy passes. Frustration at the Cowie revival meant CNR quickly got back into the game.
With well thought-out passes, good circle work and spot-on shooting Cowie strived to challenge the goal margin. However minor slip ups again allowed CNR to take advantage, with the third quarter finishing Cowie 17 – CNR 25.
Going into the final quarter, Cowie believed they could get it back but early into the quarter CNR made some very good interceptions and Cowie suffered some unlucky blows. The team continued to do well in the shooting circle and kept their passes short and sharp, with only a few minor errors.
Once again creating space seemed to prove a problem for Cowie with their players running into the same areas at times, making passes very difficult. However, the team raised their heads, improved their communication and passing on court to win the final quarter ending their season with a fantastic goal.
Sadly they weren't able to pull it back fully with the final score being Cowie 26 – CNR 31. Although the final score proved disappointing for Cowie the team still played very well and it was encouraging to see the skills being worked on in all those tough training sessions were being put into practice.
Cowie players worked incredibly hard throughout the season and have come a long way in a year. Hopefully their success will continue into next season.
Team: Sabaah Arshed, Katy Boyes, Claire Buckley (c), Vicki Corbett, Joanna Cubbage, Laura Cruickshank, Jenny Elrick, Kirsty Forbes, Becky Gordon, Marilena Hossainpour, Pamela Mcfadden, Janet Owen
