Thursday, 24 May 2012

Woods Panthers lift intensity to post second win in a row


The Woods Panthers have defeated the Contours Matrics 53-46 in an intense Subway Cup battle to post their second win in a row at Netball SA Stadium on Friday night.

Woods have been building good momentum of late and will look to continue their good form against the Health and Life Phoenix this Saturday as the middle of the Subway Cup ladder tightens up.

The Matrics suffered just their second loss of the season and will face the only other team to defeat them this season on Friday night, the undefeated ETSA Contax.
The intensity of the match was very high right from the get go, with Woods controlling their possession to break out to an early 4 goal lead. Kath Knott at goal GS for Woods started well while Kate Shimmin was excellent at GK.

Matrics adjusted well to the early Woods’ momentum and remained patient in attack with C Kyra Brown and WA Sheree Wingard combining well. Mid-way through the quarter Matrics levelled the scores.

However, Woods were able to open their lead up on the back of good defensive pressure to lead by 4 goals at quarter time.

With Shimmin rebounding strongly, Matrics brought star shooter Cody Lange in to the game but the Woods defence continued to dominate the quarter as Woods moved out to a 9 goal lead just four minutes in.

WD Claire Alvino and GD Fiona Crowe were supporting Shimmin well with Beth Shimmin at C  providing the link during transitional play.

Play settled through the quarter with Matrics beginning to become more patient allowing for what was to become a significant momentum shift late in the quarter.  Matrics scoring the last 7 goals of the quarter to cut the lead to 4 goals at half time after Woods had been in front by 11 goals.

The beginning of the third quarter saw scoring go on centre pass with both side’s attack lines looking smooth and the shooters capitalising on nice feeds from their mid-courters.  But as with the first half the match was based on momentum and, who could gain it usually used it to their advantage.

Once again Woods stole the momentum off the back of defensive rebounds and once again they went out to an 11 goal lead through the quarter, with Knott displaying strong aerial and groundwork play in the circle. Woods holding a 10 goal advantage into the final quarter.

Although they remained quite composed, Matrics’ sense of urgency picked up in the final quarter as they faced a massive task to close the gap. A comeback was looking like coming to fruition with Woods losing composure early and Matrics GA Laura Packard shooting well.

However, two intercepts from Sally Fuller who had come into to GK, ultimately shutout and chance of a miracle Matrics comeback with Woods closing the match out with a 7 goal victory.

Woods coach Trudy Barker was happy with her side’s solid performance and beating the second place side on the ladder.

“It was a solid four quarters, I thought the last quarter in the end was probably disappointing on our behalf because we didn’t push through.

“I was happier with the way our style of play was starting to flow on, defensively I thought our game was pretty good all the way down the court,” she said.

While Matrics coach Jacqui Illman said that controlling momentum played a big part in the match and consistency let her side down at times.

“It was a very physical game, we knew that, it always is against Woods and it was hard fought and there were patches where we came back but we weren’t consistent enough.

“There were a couple of occasions where the lead did get out to 10 or 11 and both times we fought back, got it back to within about 4 so I guess that’s a positive we can take out of it, but obviously we’re not happy that we couldn’t go on with it though.”

In the other round 11 matches played on the weekend, Health and Life Phoenix defeated The Royal Cougars 52-44 while the ETSA Contax continue their dominance defeating Spring Gully Newton Jaguars 55-39. Garville had the bye.

Quarter-by-Quarter scores:

Q1:   Woods  15 – 11  Matrics

Q2:   Woods  27 – 23  Matrics

Q3:   Woods  44 – 34  Matrics

Q4:   Woods  53 – 46  Matrics

Shooting:

Woods    53/63   84.13%

K. Knott:   41/46   89.13%

E. Thomas:   12/17   70.79%

Matrics   46/61   75.41%

L. Packard:   16/20   80%

S. Hentschel:   8/15   53.33%

C. Lange:   22/26   84.62%











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