Following a disappointing defeat last week away to top-of-the-league Worcester, the Loughborough Netball 3rds enjoyed a comfortable 37-17 home win against Coventry 1sts on Wednesday. Hannah Gordon was at the Netball Centre for Label Sport.
Fearless from the start, Loughborough opened the game with a centre. Convincing play down the court, involving captain and goal attack, Emma Sharpe, and opening goal shoot, Holly Adamson, saw Loughborough achieve a considerable margin over Coventry from the word ‘go’.
Albeit, Coventry did give Loughborough a run for their money in the centre throughout the match. A particularly strong defence at times turned Loughborough ball over and pushed it back up the court. Not short of scoring opportunities throughout the match, Coventry simply failed to establish any form of precision or consistency in the attack until it was too late.
A rearrangement from Loughborough at half-time introduced a new set-up on court with wing attack, Sabrina Miles, taking over in the centre and Nicki Grant coming on as goal shoot. The rhythm of the Loughborough plays was consistently good throughout, with plenty of space being created in the attack and, as always, superb precision from the shooters.
Long and sloppy passes from Coventry in the centre, as they began to tire towards the end of the match, were quickly eaten up by Loughborough. This meant that the hard work of the Coventry defence often went to waste.
Finally, the pressure from Loughborough became too much for Coventry, who were forced to pass back during plays every time they attempted to make any ground on court in the last quarter.
Exactly twenty points ahead come the final whistle, a solid team performance has given a reassuring boost ahead of next week's upcoming Midlands Conference Cup match against Northampton 2s.
Hannah Gordon
