By Shriya Patel
On Wednesday 16th of October 2024, Years 12 and 13 joined together to compete in a thrilling game of netball against one of our rival schools, St Benedict’s. Although only travelling a short distance down the road, they returned defeated after losing 16-7 to the incredible St Augustine’s Under-18s.
The exciting game started off with two brilliant goals, which were scored by our very own Donya and Gabi in the first two minutes, shortly after the competition responded by scoring their first goal. However, in the blink of an eye, Gabi took charge, making the score 3-1. After a few more goals by Gabi, playing goal attack, and Donya, playing goal shooter, the first quarter ended with the score at 5-2.
The second quarter was dominated by Gabi and Olivia, starting off strong with Olivia scoring a brilliant goal, followed immediately with yet another goal. A split second later, Gabi scored yet another goal straight through the net, making the score 7-2. Olivia, a few minutes later, scored her third goal, which was soon counteracted by St Benedict’s scoring their third goal. In the final minute of the second quarter, Sakura made a strong pass to Natalie, who then smoothly passed to Olivia. Together with Gabi, they made the score 10-3 by half-time.
During the half time interval, Ms. Lindsay rightly exclaimed, “Fantastic first half, girls!”. This truly recognises the incredible effort that the team put in, and the score is an amazing accomplishment.
The third quarter started with St Benedict’s scoring a goal. However, Olivia was not going to stand by and let them win; she took charge and scored an excellent goal, bringing the score to 11-4. Nevertheless, the St Benedict’s team was ready to fight back, and scored three consecutive goals, finishing the third quarter and closing the gap to 11-7.
During the break, Ms. Lindsay encouraged the team with motivation, saying, “Let’s step it up! Let’s beat them!” she exclaimed. This truly motivated the team, as the final quarter commenced with Gabi and Olivia back out there, with Olivia bringing her total goals to a whopping eight by scoring the 16th goal in the last minute.
When Ms. Lindsay was interviewed after the game, she commented that the girls “played tremendously” and that she was “happy with the ball moving down the court and the amazing defence and footwork ”. What a great day to win, with the sun beaming down on the astroturf! We can all agree that the entire team played amazingly, and everyone contributed to the win. Well done to everyone who played; it was a thrilling game.