Story by Chan Hui Mui/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

B division netball 2011 final - SSP vs Greenview

Liz Chew (SSP GA) and a Greenview player (in green bib) contest for the ball. (Photo 1 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

Toa Payoh Sports Hall, Tuesday, April 19, 2011 — Singapore Sports School (SSP) beat Greenview Secondary 41-25 for their third National B Division Netball Championship. SSP had won the title in 2007 and 2010.

SSP, who had put up an impressive performance during the semi-final, continued their momentum and started the match with an 8-1 run. On the other hand, Greenview took some time to figure out a strategy that would work best to overcome SSP.

When Greenview found their momentum, they did not allow any goal from SSP to go unanswered. However, SSP managed to maintain their lead to enter the second quarter with a 13-5 scoreline.

The second quarter saw SSP’s shooters display a poor shooting accuracy despite their defenders winning several turnovers. Both teams scored only three goals in the first half of the quarter. When the shooters finally settled down, SSP blew away Greenview and went on a 9-4 run to lead 25-12 at half-time.

SSP made a couple of changes to their lineup for the third quarter but the lineup did not seem to gel well. SSP had poor communication and made several mispasses, giving Greenview the opportunity to narrow the deficit to eight points (22-30).

In the final quarter, SSP made major changes, with new players coming in for five out of the seven positions. Despite a totally different combination from the previous quarter, this combination worked better.

On the defensive end, tight defence by SSP Goal Keeper Aqilah, one of two secondary three players, stopped the supply of balls to the Greenview Goal Shooter Chow Xing Hui.

On the attacking end, led by their other secondary three player, Liz Chew, SSP were simply unstoppable, outscoring Greenview 11-3 to wrap up the game 41-25 and retain their title.

“Overall, the girls did all right. It was already a bonus that the team made it to the final,” said Greenview’s coach Bok Juang Wei. “I want to tell all the neighbourhood schools that with discipline, you can do it as well.”

Sports School coach Robin Manihera was satisfied with the win.

“The game was just great! We really owe Nanyang Girls’ a favour for today’s win,” said coach Robin. “They were the ones who woke us up. After the game against Nanyang Girls’, we had plenty of mental skills training with the girls. The game highlighted to us that it was the self-made errors, such as obstructions and drop balls, that let the team down. We trained hard to get these little things correct.”

Both teams will probably still be a threat next year. Six players from this year’s team will feature again for Greenview next year in the B Division, with three of those players already regular first-teamers. As for SSP, four from this year will play again in the B Division next year, with three of them already in the main seven.

Scoring by Quarter
Sports School vs Greenview
1st Q: 13-5
2nd Q: 12-7
3rd Q: 5-10
4th Q: 11-3

Go to next page for more photos