Under-19s delight coach

THE Guernsey under-19 squad justifiably wore wide smiles after an impressive 46-28 win over Tongham. The Sarnians put in a solid performance on Sunday at the Grammar School in their South Region League fixture.

A delighted coach, Denise Bourgaize, said: 'It was a brilliant effort by all the team. The girls worked as a team, their work rate was outstanding and their attitude was commendable. I am very proud of the whole squad.'

Tongham were quick to start the match and built up a 4-2 lead within the first five minutes, but that did not concern the young hosts.

Strong performances from C Lyndsey Bougourd and GA Zola Bourgaize enabled their team to catch up quickly, build a good lead and never look back.

The Sarnians worked the ball around the court using all the space available on both sides and slick passing from WA Donna Brehaut through the middle third into the shooting third gave GS Kiara De Carteret many opportunities to convert shots, which she did with deadly accuracy throughout the game.

The Guernsey defence proved solid as a rock with GK Roxanne Wylie and GD Amy Wright waiting like hungry predators to snatch the ball away from the Tongham shooting duo and leaning and rebounding extremely effectively throughout.

The first quarter ended with a satisfactory lead on which to build at 11-6 in Guernsey's favour.

In the next period, Tongham adapted their game to some good effect with high overhead balls into the circle, but most of these were dealt with by the height of Wright, who played as an attacking defender and covered two-thirds of the court very well.

Wylie fought for every ball with determination and marked closely and effectively to prevent the shooters converting.

Hence, the ball would be driven up court with great accuracy and controlled into the final third and fed to the shooters in the circle who then converted 85% of their shots.

A short stoppage time incurred for an injury to Tongham's wing defence which enabled coach Denise Bourgaize to give a team talk, instructing them to play sensibly.

When the game resumed, the under-19s did exactly that and played mature, patient netball instigated by WD Katie Cochrane, who picked up many loose balls after her teammates pressured Tongham when they had possession.

Extending their lead to 26-12, Guernsey continued to be dominant all over the court.

Changes to the team were made in the third quarter, with Bourgaize calling on to the court Katie Daunt as wing defence and Lisa Martin as wing attack.

Tongham took more of the play in this quarter than previously, as the Sarnians made more errors in passing, which their opponents quickly intercepted and played to their advantage, only for this to be stopped by the defenders just outside the shooting area and the ball bounded back down court in Guernsey's favour.

Plenty of good contest/contact netball was played and the umpires, Tanya Gibson and Nigel Gill, made sensible advantage calls, which enabled the game to flow. The quarter ended 39-19.

Coach Bourgaize decided to make up for the lack of changes in the previous three quarters and recalled Cochrane off the bench at wing defence, Brehaut moved to centre, Kiara De Carteret had a run out as goal attack, Zola Bourgaize moved to goal shooter, Elka De Carteret came on as goalkeeper and Bougourd was wing attack.

Straight from the blow of the first whistle Guernsey took two passes out on the wings and then into the circle where Kiara De Carteret dodged away from Tongham's goal defence and converted her shots with great professionalism, while accompanied by Zola Bourgaize who did likewise.

Tired legs on both sides made this quarter more physical and contact penalties were awarded. There were a few wild passes by the Guernsey youngsters.

But they did not falter in applying the pressure of tight marking, quick and accurate passing and excellent footwork in extending their lead and eventually securing a victory over a team who were more mature in years, had a good level of fitness and who knew their way around the court.

A delighted Kiara De Carteret said: 'It was a really good game and I thought it would be a lot closer. All the team played well - from defence, through centre court to the shooters. Support from the Guernsey crowd was very much appreciated and helped us a lot.'