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very year, the 1st VII's season
actually begins in September to
prepare for the county tournament,
in which the top two teams go through to
the regionals. With the rush of hockey
fixtures throughout the Michaelmas term,
the county tournament was fast upon us.
Despite some rusty skills, our chemistry
as a team was second to none, securing
comfortable wins against rivals Taunton,
Wellington and Queen's. The fact that we
lost by only one goal to Millfield just
showed our potential for the coming
season. Unfortunately we lost out on the
regionals by just one place, but we gave a
performance to be proud of. The new
defensive pairing of Jess Kennedy and
Tilly Barker was formidable, and worked
as if they had been playing together
for years.
Blundell's was our first match of 2013,
and the 1st VII played some excellent
netball, led by player of the match Jess
Kennedy. Blundell's were a good side
though. and had the edge from the start
really. We went from strength to strength
though against Exeter School, a match
that enabled us to put many set plays
into practice, and our interception rate
was high across the whole team. Passes
into the D showed skill and maturity, with
the final score an impressive 30-13 -
player of the match was Flora Evans.
The Wellington fixture saw a closely
fought contest especially in the first half,
which ended scores level. But then in the
third quarter we really excelled, and took
control of the game with incredibly fluid
play down the court. There was
outstanding shooting from Melissa
McFarlane and Katy Preece, as we ran
out 21-13 winners.
Against West Buckland, the third quarter
began with the scores tied at 14-14, but
we then stepped up the pace and
dominated the final period of play to win
21-16, in a very exciting game to watch.
Just as we were set on our winning
streak, we had an amazingly wellmatched
game against Clifton - the
scores were tied 6-6 at the end of the
first quarter, 12-12 at half-time, and
18-18 at the end of the third quarter!
Clifton though just edged in front in the
final quarter to win 20-23. A great
game, but it was frustrating to lose after
the whole team had put their absolute all
into every second of the match.
After an impressive 36-8 win against
Stoodley Knowle, a definite highlight of
the season was our victory over local
rivals Taunton School. In a fixture which
is traditionally hotly contested, we ran out
comfortable winners in the end by 21-14.
After a very even start we gradually
chipped away at a strong Taunton side to
lead 11-8 at half-time, after which every
member of the team worked tirelessly and
with great tenacity to ensure the win -
player of the match was Gussy Hydleman.
Against Colyton we started in dominant
mood, with shooters Melissa McFarlane
and Katy Preece in sparkling form, finding
the net even from the edge of the circle.
We experienced a sticky patch in the
middle of the game, but finished strongly
to win 22-16. Unfortunately we lost our
final game against Canford, who seemed
to have shooters that never missed, but it
was still close at 11-14.
Overall the 1st VII had such an impressive
season, with so many laughs, highlights
and wins. But this wouldn't have been
the case without our amazing coaches
Abbie and Mrs Pardoe. Thank you!
Alia Hamaoui takes to the air during the 1st VII's 36-8 win over Stoodley Knowle
Netball
1st VII
by Flora Evans