Omega Netball Club News

An early fixture and the return game between Omega 2 and Hornets 5 is expected to be a tough one, with Omega only clenching the one in the first round by 8 goals.  With a depleted defence and once again, GA Chloe D’Arcy stepping up and playing out of position in GD, the team are ready to give their all.  A quick chat ahead of the game to keep the team morale and support high throughout and the starting team being GS – Hannah Brown; GA – Sophie Humphry; WA – Leanne Mansfield; C – Lisa Short; WD – Molly Brett; GD – Chloe D’Arcy; GK – Andrea Kinninmonth and Emma Faulkner starting on the bench.

The team take the court and immediately loose the ball at the 1st centre pass, but soon settle and take begin to take an early lead in the game, securing the next 3 goals.   Some good space in the attack circle allowed the attack players to find the shooters with ease and spot on shooting secured a great start to the game, with the defence sitting tight preventing Hornets getting into double figure goals.  The 1st quarter ended with a score of 20-9 to Omega.

A change of attack, with Sophie Humphry taking the bench, replaced with Emma Faulkner in GA and just a reminder to block after defending the ball and the team return to court feeling confident with their play.  A change to the Hornets defence play sees more pressure on GS Hannah Brown this quarter, which unsettled Omega for the opening minutes of the quarter, but determined to push on, Omega soon found their mojo and were not deterred by the tactical change of play.    Not such a high scoring quarter, but Omega pressed on further, increasing their lead further to 31-15 at half time.

Another change to the team at half time, saw Lisa Short taking the bench, replaced at C by Emma Faulkner and Sophie Humphry returning to GA.   Solid defending by the whole team this quarter, resulted in many turnovers by Omega once more.  Omega’s controlled play allows them to punish Hornets at every opportunity and Hornets struggle to send the ball to the their shooters this quarter as a result.  Hornets are pulled on a couple of consecutive centre passes for not being fully set and Omega are quick to take advantage of their errors.  Another higher scoring quarter with Omega gaining 16 more goals, whilst Hornets only secure a mere 6, resulting in the score going into the final quarter, being 47-22.

A final change to the Omega squad, with Leanne Mansfield leaving the court and Lisa Short taking up the WA.  With a 25 goal lead, Omega are told to play the ball safe this quarter and they work hard at achieving this.  Omega persist with pressuring their opponents and are solid in playing as a team once more.  Omega’s bogus 4th quarter sees them making a few errors, but not as many as they pressure their opponents into.  Another high scoring quarter with 17 goals scored by Omega maintaining their lead comfortably throughout the entire game.  This quarter is the highest scoring for Hornets, with them achieving double figures in goals and just managing to secure a point on the league table by attaining just over half score in the game. Omega have proved too strong an opposition for the young Hornets teams, with a final score of 64-33.  A cracking display of netball from the entire Omega squad, with everyone giving their all to the game.  Division 1 is looking a possibility.  If the team can maintain the standard of play seen in this match, they’d hold their own if promotion is achieved.

With Captain and team GK, Louise Cousins suffering a severe back injury from the game last Sunday, Omega take the court today with a different defence setup, with Chloe D’Arcy, usually an attacking player,  stepping up to play as GD. Bishops Stortford turn up with their regular shooter having returned from injury and Omega’s thoughts are that this is going to be a tough game. Omega start the game with Emma Faulkner on the bench and the Omega team are not deterred by the task ahead of them. They start the game well, although a little unsettled with a different squad. They take an early lead as Chloe puts the pressure on and wins some great balls from Bishops Stortford with a score of 17-11 to Omega by the end of the 1^st quarter.

A reminder to lose our players and to defend the pass during the break and a change to the centre position, with Emma Faulkner taking the position and Lisa Short taking the bench. Bishops Stortford also make a change to their team and the game restarts. This quarter sees some impressive reading of the game by Molly Brett at WD and Chloe D’Arcy at GD gaining more opportunities for Omega and they keep Bishops Stortford to just 8 goals scored. This coupled with good linking down court by the midfield players, who found the shooters in the circle with relative ease and consistent shooting from both GS Hannah Brown and GA Sophie Humphry, allows Omega to increase their lead further, scoring a massive 20 goals, this quarter ending the 1^st half of the game 37-19.

At half time, Leanne Mansfield takes the bench, replaced by Lisa Short, returning at WA and the team are reminded to keep control and ensure front passing. The team settle back into the game and continue as they finished the first half with majority of the ball ownership belonging to Omega. Bishops Stortford keep their heads in the game and are not ready to concede it. They attack hard to stay in the game, but Omega prove a force to contend with and once again, Omega prevent them scoring high, allowing only 6 goals this quarter. Omega however are hot on the ball and push on in an attempt to prevent their opposition getting a point for the table and by the final quarter, they are on target with a score of 51-25 going into the final quarter.

A final change to the team with Leanne Mansfield returning to court and Sophie Humphry taking the bench and Omega look good to take the game. A final team talk is that of control and retaining ball ownership, but at the 1^st centre pass, this is short lived and Bishops Stortford punish our error, taking the 1^st 2 goals of the quarter. Omega recompose and begin to play with more control and considered passes, steadily moving the ball to goal. Not the best of quarters for the Omega team and consistent with the play in last week’s game, but nevertheless, even though Bishops Stortord win the quarter, Omega take the game win with a final score of 59-37.

Omega 2 took on top of the table, Watford Premier in the Herts League, Division 2, re-arranged game this weekend.  With a bare 7 squad facing the top spot team, Omega were anxious ahead of the game, but this was not evident as they took the court and opened the game with a straight 4-0 lead, continuing to increase their lead to 9-1 in the opening minutes, showing the opposition we were determined to fight for the game.  The team played a controlled game, seeing every one of their centre passes converted to goal, with fantastic shooting by both GS, Hannah Brown and GA, Sophie Humphry.  They took advantage of errors made by Watford Prem and punished the opposition at every opportunity, showing them we were determined to put on a good show and were up for taking the game.   The solid play by the entire team in the first quarter gave Omega a comfortable lead to go into the 2nd quarter, with a score of 17-7.

The 2nd quarter and Omega are as solid as they were in the 1st.   Great, consistent support from the WD, Molly Brett and GD, Andrea Kinninmonth on our centre passes allowed Omega to maintain ownership of the ball, playing the safe ball forward until we found our shooters, who persistently converted their shots.  The team continued to support each-other and work together throughout with some superb linking midcourt by all players and strong feeds from C, Emma Faulkner and WA, Lisa  Short

to finish off.  An injury to GK, Louise Cousins’ back mid quarter saw her calling time and leaving the court for treatment.  She returned to court after a goal, but was extremely limited in her movement from then on and the team knew they all had to give that little bit more to take the pressure off their injured player.   We continued to increase our lead, scoring 16 goals this quarter and limiting Watford Prem to 11, ending the 1st half of the game 33-18.

The team returned to court for the 2nd half of the game, believing the win was in sight, but knew they needed to maintain control and continue to play as they had in the 1st half.   Molly Brett at WD read the ball well, intercepting many a ball, helping the team to once again increase their lead this quarter.   The whole team continue to play a controlled game throughout the quarter, with dogged support from the defence players to take the ball to goal.  Once again Omega limit their opposition to 13 goals, scoring 16 themselves.  A comfortable cushion going into the final quarter, with a score of 49-31.

By the final quarter playing with an injured player was beginning to take it’s toll, with the team looking tired and unable to hold onto the ball as they had in the rest of the game.  This said, everyone continued to give it their all and did not give up.  Watford Prem took advantage of Omega’s weiriness, clawing back some goals, but by now it was too late and the final score was 60-48 to Omega.  This has put Omega 2nd on the table, to AFN, who Omega have yet to play.    We wish Louise a speedy recovery for next weeks game against Bishops Stortford.

With a squad of 8 for the game, the decision was made to rotate the team each quarter to allow all players a fair share of the game.   Omega started the game with confidence and maybe a little complacency having previously beaten the opposition 92-25 and this was evident in the first quarter.  Some different faces in the Turnford team and they started with determination, giving Omega a wake up call as they held their own in the opening half of the quarter, even taking the lead in the first few minutes.  Omega began to settle but took their time in doing so, allowing Turnford to stay in the game, with a score of 14-9 at the end of the 1st quarter.

A swift talking to by the coach in the break to sharpen up our passing and play, followed by a change in attack, with Emma Faulkner taking up the GA position and Sophie Humphry replacing her on the bench and the team return to court.   This quarter the team get back to their game and begin to move the ball down the court with better control and skill.  The shooters position themselves well in the circle and are supported well with great feeds in from the mid-court players.  Omega own the ball from centre pass to goal consistently and score double the goals of the opposition as the defence are tight and keep Turnford down to just 8 goals scored, leaving the score 30- 17 to Omega by half time.

Another change to the attack for the 3rd quarter, sees GS, Hannah Brown take the bench and Sophie returning to court, taking up the position.    The rotation play and inter-passing between the shooters in the circle is sweet, as is the support from the attacking players.     The team have tightened their passing throughout the court and drive towards the ball much more.  Another great quarter for Omega, scoring another 17 goals this quarter and the defence once again have limited Turnford to just 7 goals.

The final quarter, a comfortable lead and the final change to the Omega team sees Lisa Short take the bench, Emma move to centre, Sophie move back to GA and Hannah return to GS.   The start of the quarter and Turnford are not perturbed by the score, continuing to fight for the ball and take it to goal at every opportunity.    A steady quarter for Omega to end what has been a more challenging game than expected, against a much changed and improved Turnford team.   Some great netball displayed throughout the latter three quarters,  to combat the scrappy start.  A final score of 60-33 to Omega, taking them into 3rd position on the table, which shows them as the only Division 2 team that have scored over 500 goals to date.

A tough game next week, facing top of the table, Watford Prem.  Let’s hope the 2018 winning streak continues!

The 2nd game of the 2nd half of the Herts League fixtures and it’s a competitive game for Omega 2 against Crosskeys 2, both of whom are mid-table teams, so a battle was expected.    The starting 7 were GS – Hannah Brown; GA – Sophie Humphry; WA – Leanne Mansfield; C – Emma Faulkner; WD – Molly Brett; GD – Andrea Kinninmonth; GK and Captain – Louise Cousins; with Lisa Short on the bench.

With 4 of the 8-squad suffering from the affects of the night before and another with a heavy cold, Omega know it’s going to be a tough one….probably tougher than initially expected.  The first time out in the new kit and at a new venue and the team at least look good!    Both teams are keen to win and the quarter is evenly played, with both shooting circles consistent in converting the goals, so the game becomes a battle of the shooters.   Omega gain a couple of interceptions and manage to create a 2 goal lead by the end of the quarter.

The team chat reminds everyone of driving towards the pass and the team return to court to compete for the game.  The quarter is again fairly evenly matched, but Omega again win some interceptions, but many are short lived as Crosskeys read the passes and Omega allow them to steal back the ball by not doing as was discussed in the break.  The defence try hard to close down the Crosskeys GS, but the opposition attack manage to find her every time – one to practice at training!  Omega manage to maintain their lead, increasing it by another goal going into the 2nd half of the game, with the score at 31-28 by the half time whistle.

Another reminder from the Coach and captain on expected playing strategies and a change in attack with Lisa Short taking the court at WA and Leanne moving to the bench.  Some more frantic play and evenly matched netball from both teams, but Crosskeys take advantage of Omega’s errors this quarter and close the gap in the scores.  At one point, Omega go 3 down, but they are not ready to concede and fight to stay in the game.  By the end of the 3rd quarter, Omega manage to hold on to a 1 goal advantage to head into the final stage of the game.

Both teams return to the court desperate to take the game, but Omega take a more controlled approach to the game and penalise Crosskeys at every opportunity.  The final quarter sees the best game play from the whole Omega team, with great linkage down the entire court, superb feeds from the attacking players and a much more skilful display of netball.  The fantastic court play and feeds are finished perfectly with confident, consistent shooting by both shooters.  The final result sees Omega taking the 5 points for the table and they have limited their opposition to a single point by ending with a goal difference of 5 goals and a great score of 59-54!

Omega are on a promising winning streak for the start of 2018, with both the 1sts and 2nds taking their games yet again this weekend.  Let’s keep on this winning roll!