Corsham Pipped at the Post in Pinehurst Purgatory

Unless the rules have changed recently I believe the game is still played out over four quarters, you can’t just turn up for three. Corsham turned up for three and it cost them the win on Saturday.

New year, new look Corsham… the ladies shot out of the gate and quickly established a 3-0 lead but due to some unforced errors allowed Pinehurst to get a toe-hold in the game and they steadily inched their way back into contention to trail 10-9 at the break.
Corsham shuffled the pack in the interval and sent out a revised defensive line up. It didn’t pan out as planned and the team resembled a bunch of workmates that decided a netball match would make a good team-building exercise… I have watched enough netball matches to realise that a) it’s always best if you have the ball, and b) it’s always best to keep all seven of you in the game. Those, right there, are the two least well-kept secrets to success at netball…, or any other team ball sport, for that matter.

There were too many passes to the opposition and too many penalties that, on the one hand, gives possession to the other team and also ensures you restart play minus one player… C’mon guys, it’s fundamental stuff…

The Pinehurst shooting duo feasted on the extra possession and clocked up 15 goals to Corsham’s paltry 7 to lead 24-17 at the half time interval.

In a seven-goal hole with 30 minutes to play there should be no sense of panic and indeed Corsham showed no signs of alarm as they set about reeling Pinehurst in. The spark was back, the passing and timing were crisp and calculated, the decision making was on point and Pinehurst were holding on and praying for the whistle. Corsham won the third quarter 14-10 to trail 34-31 at three-quarter time.

The talk in the huddle was oozing positivity, the game was still there for the taking, the win was in their sights and their fingers were on the trigger. What happened over the next 15 minutes will live in infamy… Catching the bug, Pinehurst decided that they’d like to join in with Corsham’s team-building exercise and resemble a bunch of workmates that had never played together before. There must have been a five minute period in the middle of the quarter where no goals were scored by either team. On the sideline it looked like tennis…! Possession was given away in a flurry of nonsense netball… I can’t remember ever seeing anything like it. They leant on each other like two old heavyweights in the 12th round…, swinging haymakers but unable to land anything telling. With the scores tied it was down to the team who had the ball last, unfortunately for Corsham, that was Pinehurst. The ball agonizingly teetered on the rim and fell in. The whistle went and that’s all she wrote. Corsham won the battle 8-6 but lost the war 40-39…

Correspondents’ player: Lou Blackman, never deserved to be on the losing side. Once again ran herself close to insanity.

Pinehurst player: Michelle Beasley; no argument here, a force under the post coupled with a high shooting percentage, should have been on the winning team.

Remember, in any team sport, you must win as a team and lose as a team, this applies more so than ever in netball, as it is the ultimate team sport.

p.s. A win on Saturday should confirm a place in the second division as Raychem would then have to win six of their remaining eight games…, I’m saying here that that won’t happen.