Singapore Sports School top Group A with victory over RGS in B Division netball

By Marvin Lowe

Kallang Netball Centre, Wednesday, April 1, 2009 – In a top-of-the-table clash, Singapore Sports school emerged 32-38 winners over RGS in a B Division Netball Championship match. Before the game, both teams were tied on 6 points and had already qualified for the next round. With this victory, Sports School now top the table for Group A with a maximum 9 points.

Although both teams had already qualified for the next round, both teams knew the importance of finishing top of the group. Right from the start, they went at each other with a fierce intensity with points traded at regular intervals. However, Sports School managed to pull away with a 2-point lead after taking advantage of the turnovers made by RGS.

The second quarter saw Sports School upping the tempo and applying more pressure on the RGS team. Tight defending by Sports School saw RGS commit unforced errors resulting in turnovers. This enabled the Sports School to enter the half-time break with a comfortable six-point lead at 16-10.

RGS tried to fight back in the third quarter with a few tactical changes. Ng Jiaming who started at the Goal Attack (GA) position was moved back into a more defensive Goal Keeper (GK) position. Lau Jinghan, who started at Center was moved into the Wing Attack (WA) position as well.

These changes worked to a certain extent. They were able to keep pace with the Sports School team but failed to chip away at the lead. Midway through this quarter, RGS player, Lau Jinghan, clashed with a Sports School player and had to be replaced. RGS ended the quarter still trailing by six points.

RGS continued their strategy of lobbing passes to their tall Goal Shooter, Zhao Wan Ting who was easily a head taller then her Sports School defenders. However, her teammates passing were ineffective or inaccurate.

In the final quarter, the passes finally found her and she began scoring at will, out jumping her defenders at times. RGS managed to to outscore Sports School in this quarter finally but it was too little, too late. Sports School managed to hang on for a four-point victory at 32-28.