Hinckley C team were away at Ambleside this week and were hoping they would be able to make amends for a two goal defeat in their first encounter. Hinckley started well and managed to creep to a 13-10 advantage after the first quarter. The second saw Hnckley stretching their lead despite excellent shooting from Ambleside’s young shooters to 27-22. The second half Hinckley grew in confidence with the ball flowing well through the attack and finished with some great shooting from Zoe Stokes and player of the match Emily Harrison. The defence continued to work hard at the other end and contributed to an impressive 52-34 victory for the Hinckley side.
Hinckley A got back to winning ways after only their second defeat by the same team last week. They faced Leamington away. With both teams desiring a win, the first quarter was goal for goal with Leamington just edging 11-10 after the first 15 minutes. After some regrouping, determination and encouragement from the supporters, Hinckley fought back and stretched the lead to 3. Leamington were attacking and feeding the ball into their tall shooter well, taking several opportunities they had created. However, this did not stop the POM Kate Chamberlain reading the game incredibly well and making numerous important interceptions to keep Hinckley in the lead. As the opposing umpire commented, due to ‘beautiful play and connection’ between Ashleigh Oakes and Bex Oldfield coming down court and their attacking play, helped result in a close 45-43 win to Hinckley Ladies.
Hinckley ladies Bs played Alec High on Saturday. The game was controlled very well by Hinckley, maintaining possession the whole way through the game. Thanks to the awesome defence of Nicola Coulson and Annis Pears, Hinckley managed to turn over the oppositions mistakes and get it back to their shooters. This meant the score was a 20-27 win for Hinckley and player of the match was Sadie Baker at wing attack.
The derby match between Hinckley B and D teams this week proved to be a closely fought affair. The Bs started strongly, ending the first quarter with a four goal lead. However the Ds tight defence and clinical shooting enabled them to take control of the second quarter, going into half time with a five goal advantage. Despite excellent shooting by the Bs in the second half, the Ds were able to extend their lead. Secure passes, fast drives and interceptions saw the D’s extend their lead after the third quarter but with the experienced B team plying on the pressure both teams knew it was going to be all played for in the final quarter. Both teams remained focused and committed for the final push but the D team came out on top to secure a crucial win . Final score was 54-43 to the D team. Player of the match awards went to Hinckley B centre Sadie Baker and Hinckley Ds goal defence Beth Willars.
In a second game in a week, with their GD still injured , Hinckley D team had to make some position changes to their normal team start up against Synergy ,moving Bethany Willars to GD alongside the experienced Emma Draycott as GK proving a dominant defence duo from the start. The D’s settled into their stride and dominated the game from the start. Relentless interceptions from the Hinckley defence saw to it that Synergy could not convert all of their chances .Synergy’s defence stuck tight to the Hinckley shooters but Hinckley stayed calm and passed around until the opportunity came to pass the ball in. Well timed drives and critical feeds into the goal circle from the attackers saw Hinckley extend their lead . Interceptions were key for numerous turn overs to ensure another victory for the D team. POM went to Bethany Willars
For their third match of 2017, Hinckley Ladies F were away to Rugby Railway C. After injury worries, they were glad to get the full seven players on court, but knew they were up against a tough team. Despite this, they started out strong and pulled ahead during the first quarter, leading 8-7. In the second quarter, Rugby turned the tables and took the lead, but Hinckley kept up the pressure with excellent defensive work from Nicky Daniel and Anna Ball and were only down by three goals at half time. Rugby increased their lead across the third quarter, the score 24-19 with fifteen minutes to go. However, everything was still to play for. In the final quarter, the F’s played with renewed energy scoring 8 goals to Rugby’s 3, and held possession when the final whistle blew, leaving the score at 27 all. It was an excellent game for the Hinckley Fs, with player of the match being awarded to Katie Eaves for her incredible work as GA.
The Hinckley G Team carried on their winning streak versus Warwick Ladies this week. Hinckley started off strong with lots of energy and excellent interceptions creating end to end play to finish the first half 19-5 up. As the match wore on they began to tire, making unforced errors in the third quarter and possession going back and forth with each side scoring 3 goals. However Hinckley came back strong again in the final quarter, and although injury meant Claire Mawson had to call time on her strong game at WD, Hinckley finished winners at 30-14. POM went to Katie Eaves for her amazing versatility at C, GA, GS and WD
Hinckley’s H team had a great game against Godiva on Wednesday night winning 27-9 with Sam Davis being awarded player of the match as goal shooter after scoring some fantastic goals, alongside both Alex Boudier and Milly Hemus who both played goal attack. The team started off strong taking an early lead in the first quarter managing to hold off Godiva to only 1 goal however they were more closely matched in the second. After half time however the team got their heads down and brought home a convincing victory in the last two quarters.