NETBALL

North Zone, ‘B’ Division
North Vista Secondary vs Northland Secondary School
Friday, 23 February 2007, at Singapore Sports School

Match Report by Coach Dick Yip. 
Pictures by Leslie Tan.  © redsports.sg/ soulbreath pictures

North Vista Secondary beat Northland Secondary 35-13 in a crucial ‘B’ Division encounter last Friday.

From the opening whistle, North Vista took control of the ball, the court and the play through the effective combination and excellent teamwork of every member on court.  In a matter of minutes, they were up 3-1 and then 6-1. When Northland had possession, the North Vista girls time and again speedily closed down their available passing options, with solid marking, crucial interceptions and forcing them into many unfortunate turnovers. From many of these turnovers, North Vista’s Wing Attack (WA), Wing Defence (WD) and especially their Centre, were instrumental in delivering superb fast balls to their Goal Attack (GA) and Goal Shooter (GS), who were very sharp and accurate in the D area. At the end of the quarter, North Vista had a commanding 8-2 lead.

North Vista’s WA Daphne Sim (in white) comes up against her Northland opponent

In the 2nd Quarter, Northland were wondering what to do to stem the tide as the game resumed.  Whatever counter strategy they might have thought of using was immaterial as the North Vista girls stepped up a gear.  It was smooth, all out attacking play coupled with solid, defensive work and an impressive shooting rate.  Before long, North Vista led 10-4. From a Northland pass which was cleverly intercepted by North Vista’s Centre, the score increased to 11-5.  Another timely block caused a turnover from which North Vista attacked and went 12-5 up with the goal coming from the GA. Their next point was memorable for the fast build up.  From the GD, the ball was sent on a long overhead lob along the sideline, retrieved and sent to the GS who duly obliged with a goal. 13-5.

North Vista’s GK, Charine Chong is first to the ball against Northland while her team mate, Valerie Ng (GD) looks on

The North Vista girls must have surmised during the break that their rivals would close in on them faster in this quarter and so there was a change in tactics.  It was to pay dividends again as two valuable points were added that resulted from fast play down the line.  17-5. There were few errors in the North Vista game.  But one major mistake came in the dying seconds of this period when North Vista’s GS passed the ball to Northland’s GK who was so surprised and distracted by it, they lost it again. NV then got it back and went on to widen the lead to 18-5. NV were on a shooting spree with 10 goals while restricting their rivals to just 3.  

When play resumed in the 3rd quarter, Northland started with a fast counterattack that gave them a point, 6-18.  But the North Vista girls played with confidence and maintained a tight control over the proceedings, denying their rivals time and space to play their own game. Allowing them only 3 more goals versus 6 of their own, North Vista ended this quarter with superb 24-9 scoreline.

In the 4th quarter there was absolutely no way back for Northland as soon as the game got underway again. The North Vista girls, with their number one fan, Principal Lim Lai Chuan encouraging them from the gallery steps, took it upon themselves to show what they were really capable of.  Forcing numerous turnovers through good pressure tactics on their opponents, and combining slick movement and passing, with outstanding shooting, the North Vista girls , with everyone attacking and defending the ball, put on a remarkable last quarter display.  They truly reserved the best for the last!  They scored 11 points to Northland’s 4, taking the final score and match to 35-13.  To their credit Northland fought bravely to the end, showing glimpses of effort and guts but they were unfortunate to have met with this bunch of NV girls whose determination to win was clearly evident in their excellent play from beginning to end.

North Vista’s GS, Christina Koh, waits for her team mates to move into position against Northland Sec

Editor’s note:  We don’t have all your names for the picture captions.  If you recognize yourself or your teammates, please let us know your full names and we’ll put it in.  Thanks.