RGS and St. Margaret’s Secondary register comfortable wins in South Zone B Division netball

Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports.

CCAB, Thursday, February 18, 2009 – In the South Zone B Division Netball Championship, Raffles Girls’ School and St. Margaret’s Secondary easily overcame their second round opponents in Group Y. RGS beat Crescent Girls’ School 45-10 while St. Margaret’s defeated Ang Mo Kio Secondary 41-17.

In the first match of Group Y, Crescent Girls’ took the game to RGS in the opening minutes, but although they drew first blood, RGS soon overpowered them with swift movement in the attacking third. Both teams were rather equally matched in the early goings, but RGS were able to hold a slender two point lead at 7-5 at the end of the first quarter.

RGS extended their lead in the second quarter as Crescent Girls’ defense started to slip. Soon, the RGS’ Goal Shooter and Goal Attack were running circles around the Crescent Girls’ Goal Keeper and Goal Defense, finding empty spaces to receive passes from their team mates. Crescent Girls’ didn’t help their cause by making costly turnovers all over the court.

RGS managed to extend their lead into double figures and went into the half-time break 19-7 up.

There was no looking back for RGS from that point as they did not allow their opponents to score a point throughout the third quarter to gain a 35-7 lead. With such a lead, RGS were not about to let it slip, and eventually wrapped up the match 45-10.

“It was poor decision making on the part of the attack in the later quarters that resulted in the loss,” said Crescent Girls’ coach Lin Shuang Ru after the defeat. “In the first quarter, my girls put up a up a good fight and I am proud of them. However, the second quarter was a disappointment as we fell into their trap. Our attack could have been better and we went for the wrong options.”

St. Margaret’s Secondary also had a comfortable victory over their opponents, leading from start to finish to come out 41-17 winners against Ang Mo Kio Secondary in another group.

St. Margaret’s stormed to an early lead, going on a 7-0 run in the first quarter to finish the first 8-1 up. St. Margaret’s Secondary Goal Shooter was unstoppable in the match as her size advantage over the defense helped her make easy shots.

In the third quarter, Ang Mo Kio Secondary introduced their taller shooter in an attempt to reduce the deficit, but St. Margaret’s Secondary’s defense held firm and found a way past her for the victory.

“I wouldn’t say it was a very comfortable victory as it was tough at first,” said St. Margaret’s captain Trina Young. “Then they brought on their tall shooter, but we managed to get around that problem. We didn’t think of the victory at the start of the match because we didn’t want to underestimate our opponents. We also wanted to avoid complacency within the team.”

In the other group, Cedar Girls’ Secondary overcame Serangoon Garden Secondary 49-12 while Singapore Chinese Girls’ School fell to CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) 31-19.

The semi-final spots will be confirmed during the last matches of the second round to be held on Monday, February 22, 2009.

N.B. If you recognise the players in the photos, please let us know their names in the comments section and we’ll update the captions. Thanks.

More pictures in the gallery.