WX Cyclone 43
Chevrons 33
YORKSHIRE REGIONAL LEAGUE ROUND 9
This was a statement win, a defining win, a win to show the round one victory over Chevrons wasn’t just a one-off – it was deserved – so now two wins out of two against East Yorkshire’s performance club.
A change of venue saw the girls travel to West Yorkshire, Bradford to be exact, to face their East Yorkshire rivals – a city famous for its curries, but the only thing hot on display was WX Cyclone, who were simply too hot to handle.
Captain Hall won the toss, giving Cyclone the first centre pass. A confident start saw the girls use the ball well to find Prim in the D – goal, 1–0.
Chevrons responded in their usual professional manner, 1–1. But when Cyclone scored to go 2–1 up, they then kept their lead for the remaining 58 minutes of the match through hard work, skilful play and togetherness.
A five-goal blitz put them 6–1 up after six minutes. This stirred Chevrons into life, but they could only match and trade goals with Cyclone, and the quarter ended 11–7 to the White Cross netball girls.
Quarter two saw Chevrons make a strong start. Three goals on the spin brought them to within one of Cyclone.
Cyclone hit back with a double, goals were then traded before Cyclone hit three in a row. Chevrons responded with three of their own before the Cyclone girls hit back with three more, with Chevrons scoring the last goal.
The quarter ended 11–10 to Cyclone. It was high-octane stuff – interceptions, errors, sharp passing and great shooting. Half-time: Cyclone 22, Chevrons 17.
Quarter three was always going to be key. Could Cyclone maintain their fast-paced start, or would Chevrons get into their groove that they’ve shown against the rest of the East Yorkshire sides for the past five or six years?
Chevrons got the opening goal to pull it back to four, but then Cyclone had a stunning spell, scoring six goals in a row – pretty much unheard of against Chevrons – but they just couldn’t stop the Cyclone girls. It was 28–19. The last five minutes of the quarter saw Chevrons manage to gain a foothold and they scored six goals to Cyclone’s four, meaning Cyclone won the quarter 10–8, making it 32–25 with one quarter left.
Final quarter – did either side have anything left in the tank after giving everything in the first three quarters? Cyclone got the opening goal, but then Chevrons had a strong passage of play, scoring four unanswered goals to bring the score back to 33–29.
A couple of nervous looks on the Cyclone players’ faces quickly disappeared after a double strike extended their lead to 35–29.
Each side then traded three goals apiece, but time was ticking away. With just three minutes to go it looked like the game was won by Cyclone – and it certainly was after a fantastic closing spell as they scored five goals on the bounce to extend their lead to ten, giving a final score of 43–33 to Cyclone.
Isla and Lucy were outstanding at the back, up against one of the sharpest shooters in the league in Ffion, alongside the height of Liv, with Bea also providing a stern test, but it was the Cyclone girls who came out on top. The mid-court quartet of Jess, Maddie, Lois and Brooke worked their socks off, harrying opponents into errors and working the ball forward into the D with real finesse.
What can be said about the top two, Erin and Prim, who were simply outstanding. The other girls got them the ball, and once in hand, more often than not it ended up in the net.
Huge plaudits to Jolie, who, although she didn’t get on court, certainly helped with her encouragement and support, which was hugely appreciated and a great credit to her.
Final appreciation goes to the gaffer, coach Kirsty. The girls had faced a pretty tough few weeks against Yorkshire’s top sides, and Kirsty, as ever, provided the positivity, belief and coaching nuance that the girls responded to with an epic performance that will go down in White Cross folklore.
Well done all – a fantastic day.