Story by Chan Hui Mui/Red Sports. Pictures by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports
St. Andrew’s GS and Jurong JC’s GK go up for a high pass. St. Andrew’s GS was on target throughout the match, constantly getting the better of Jurong’s GK. (Photo 1 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Republic Polytechnic, Monday, April 26, 2010 – After losing to Temasek Junior College 31-33, another defeat would have ended the A Division Netball Championship campaign of St Andrew’s Junior College. However, the girls of SAJC beat Jurong Junior College 58-29 to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the second round.
The Saints pressurised JJC right from the opening whistle. Using area defence, the Saints caused JJC to fumble a lot in the first quarter. Taking advantage of the Goal Shooter’s size, the Saints took the first quarter 17-4.
The second quarter continued to see JJC struggling against the Saints’ area defence and their poor passing exacerbated the situation. JJC Goal Keeper, Aubrey Lee, could not overcome the lobs that were being sent to the Saints’ Goal Shooter and her team could only watch helplessly as they ended the second quarter trailing 9-31.
JJC made some changes to their lineup in the third quarter, adding speed to their play, but they still saw no solution to the Saints defence. The Saints further extent the lead to 37-10 before JJC finally got their shooting going to narrow the margin to 41-17.
JJC however could not maintain their performance and poor passing was once again their Achilles’ Heel as they gifted the Saints several turnovers to end the quarter trailing by 22 points (17-49).
With a Saints victory more or less settled, both teams made further changes to their lineup. JJC continued to show good fighting spirit and a tighter defence allowed them to narrow the gap to 23-51.
However, near the end of the quarter, JJC faded away and failed to penetrate the Saints’ defence and SAJC wrapped up the game 58-29.
“Our team worked hard today,” said SA captain Dawn Yeo. “We came into the match confident, but at the same time, not complacent. The first quarter was crucial for us as we wanted to take the lead and build confidence within the team,” said Dawn.
“In the fourth quarter, we played with the new players and they were a little panicky and rushed too much. That’s why we lost the fourth quarter. Credit to Jurong JC though, they didn’t give up throughout the match,” added Dawn.
St. Andrew’s lost their first game against Temasek Junior College and Dawn felt they learned a lot from their mistakes in that game.
“In that game, we weren’t in competition mood yet and we made a lot of mistakes,” she said. “It was down to our own mistakes that caused us to lose the game. Right now, we will take one game at a time with the goal of being in the top four.”
St. Andrew’s WD intercepts a long pass while Jurong’s WA attempts to stop her. St. Andrew’s defense was solid throughout the match, limiting Jurong to just 17 points in the first three quarters. (Photo 2 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Jurong’s GS had a disappointing outing with St. Andrew’s stubborn defense the source of her frustration. (Photo 3 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
St. Andrew’s WD tries to stop the ball from reaching her Jurong opponent. (Photo 4 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Players from both sides tussle for a loose ball. (Photo 5 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
“Don’t let that ball go out!” In the fourth quarter, St. Andrew’s played their second stringers and that allowed Jurong JC to reduce the deficit, but they eventually held on for the win. (Photo 6 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
In another group match, Temasek JC overcame Serangoon JC 56-40. (Photo 7 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
N.B.: If you know the names of the players featured, please let us know and we’ll update the captions. Thanks.
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haha! jj’s jersey is turquoise with bright pink bibs, but it turned into some grayish colour jersey and orange bibs. haha!
The 2nd photo rocks! 🙂