The Stirling Netball 1s team played their first Conference Cup semi-final in ten years on February 24 against Aberdeen. After a resounding 69-16 win over Dundee, the team knew it was a difficult game ahead as they travelled north.
President Shanae Stannard was proud of the team to get to this point: “It has been such an exciting achievement, especially with it being the first year the club has been entirely student-led and this achievement is a testament to everyone’s hard work and dedication.”
The game opened intensely for Stirling, with immediate defensive pressure required in Aberdeen’s shooting third inside and outside the circle. Maisey MacLennan as WD and Hannah Foreman as GK in particular worked hard with intercepts and rebounds.
Aberdeen played an aggressive attack, allowing Stirling’s discipline to win centre pass turnovers. Whist Aberdeen initially started off with more possession, they were made to work incredibly hard by the Stirling defence, often having to reset with Dunan and Foreman being relentless on the rebounds.
Stirling’s first quarter moved the ball into the shooting circle effort- lessly, aided with Mya Oliver’s shots from far out. The Aberdeen defence quickly countered these tactics, making the Stirling attack have to work the ball in harder allowing Aberdeen intercepts and the home side took a three-goal lead over Stirling at 6-9.
It was still all to play for into the second quarter. Stirling continued to adapt to the Aberdeen defence, having to exert a lot of effort to create shooting opportunities.
Despite Stirling struggling to close the gap, the defensive third increased the tempo with flying intercepts from MacLennon at centre. The Aberdeen shooters had settled, with their shot accuracy now matching that of Oliver and Grant.
Stirling fall short in competitive second half
As the second half of the quarter began, there was a shift in play for the Stirling team. The Aberdeen defence lost their discipline which Stirling took advantage of as well as the midcourt slowing Aberdeen attempting to charge down the court. Bringing on Caitlin Irvine as goal defence also brought added in- tensity to the defensive circle.
Going into the second half, Aberdeen led by 20 goals to 15.
Stirling were determined to close the gap with possession being retained predominantly in the Stirling attacking half, but they struggled to convert their chances, relying mainly on Oliver’s long shots for points.
Aberdeen continued to increase pressure in the midcourt intercepting. Although Stirling’s defence continued to move the ball out of the Aberdeen shooting circle, the team were unable to close the gap.
The final quarter began with Aberdeen leading. The Stirling defensive third came out with a bang, turning over Aberdeen’s first attempt taking advantage of shooting inaccuracies.
Whilst the Stirling team couldn’t close the gap, they also didn’t allow it to increase. As the final few minutes of the game began both teams began taking goals incredibly quickly, with Stirling persevering with the small goal margin Aberdeen had retained.
Fatigue had begun to kick in for the Stirling side with the amount of backline-to-backline work they were having to do across the whole court.
Aberdeen took the win at 38 to 32.
Featured Image Credit: Stirling University Netball Club
Film, Media and Journalism student who writes about things that catch her interest. Instagram @charlsutcliffe
