Well where do I start.......

Firstly with the positives..... Bulkington knew before the match had even begun that it was going to be tough - that we were going to have to work incredibly hard for every goal after we had lost the first match against Henley by just 4 goals! We were slightly skeptical but enthusiastic and positive.

We started the game very well - exceeding our expectations, and found ourselves probably slightly surprised that we were infront. After the first 5 minutes where not one goal was scored both teams settled in with Henley getting the first goal off our Bulkington centre pass. The first quarter was closely fought and fairly even with Bulkington just managing to nudge ahead ending the quarter at 7 goals to 4.

After our initial shock of having the lead, we vowed for it to stay that way - and our quarter time talk basically re-iterated about having to work hard for every ball. The second quarter saw Bulkington extending their lead and at one point having a 6 or 7 goal lead. However, Henley wouldn't be third in the league tables if they weren't strong and able to come back.... and come back they did! At the end of the second quarter the score had been pulled back to 11 goals to 10 - with us hanging on to our lead by a thread.

The third quarter again saw swings in the run of goals - firstly us and then Henley. Bulkington worked tirelessly to try and stay infront, with the defence playing brilliantly to gain interceptions to keep us in the game.

Unfortunately just at the start of the first quarter Jackie and her opposing player managed to injure each other during a toss up, with Jaks hurting her already injured fingers, and Tracey dis-locating hers! After their replacements had managed to get stripped off and on court, both teams agreed for no more toss ups!!!!!

Tracey then really got her eye in after a telling off at half time as she was trying to take herself off the court! This lead to increased confidence down the court, with excellent balls being fed in by Lisa, Linz and Kerrie. The third quarter ended with Bulkington still in the lead 20-17.

We were well aware that the last quarter would see Henley coming out with fight and determination. For about 5 minutes Bulkington managed to hang on to our lead, however as we got nearer time, Henley managed to edge back to evens. Disappointingly the last two goals were stolen from Bulkington after we had worked so hard to sustain our lead throughout 58 minutes of the game! The whole team knew that we shouldn't have allowed Henley to come back so closely, however the last two passages of our attacking play were doomed. This led to Henley clawing a 2 goal win!

After such a closely contested game, with some great netball played - it was such a shame to come away with the whole team feeling very disappointed and disgruntled. However - I can say girls that we did play really well, and we should be proud of ourselves!

Well done. (A special well done to Rhian for getting player again this week - a fab contribution to the defensive play which allowed us to compete so well against a team placed higher than us in the league!)