The University of East London’s Netball Third Team won their second consecutive league game of the season, as they annihilated The University of Greenwich’s Fourth team 58-7 at the Sports Dock.
Room For Improvement
The victory moved the side into second in the South Eastern 11B league and the margin of victory pleased UEL Netball player Christina Inoke, who suggested that there was room for development despite the gulf in class.
“It felt like an easy game. We came up quite a lot in each quarter, but I feel like we have some more to improve on skill-wise. This is the first time we have played together in this group, so there is still some more to improve on,” Inoke said.
Magnificent Maria
The hosts went into the game on the back of their first win of the season, a narrow 13-11 victory over Canterbury Christ Church University’s Fourth Team, and got their first point of the game immediately, when Goal-Shooter for the first-quarter Maria Shipahu scored her first of many for the day.
It was a quick start to the game and the UEL defence held firm, leading to quick counter-attacks, in which Shipahu finished calmly every time.
Potent
Goal-Attack Laura Pakenham switched with Shipahu as Goal-Shooter for the second-quarter and was just as potent in front of the net, scoring numerous times in the second-quarter. Good play between Pakenham and Charlotte Baker saw Pakenham score again giving UEL a 27-2 lead at half-time.
UEL continued to assert their dominance in the third quarter as they once again scored straight from the start. Greenwich did score two points in the quarter, but there was no sign of an astonishing comeback as UEL looked deadly in front of the net, whilst limiting Greenwich’s chances of scoring.
The final quarter was no different to the last three. Pakenham and Shipahu both looked lethal in front of the net, and did not let-up on scoring against an already beaten opposition. With UEL scoring freely it was no surprise that it was such an incredible final score, as UEL beat their South London opponents 58-7.
Boost
The large margin of victory would undoubtedly give the side a large boost of confidence, especially considering it was their second successive victory, and Inoke indicated it would provide them with targets to work on.
“ It’s a good start to the season,” Inoke said, “I think this will give a boost to our training, we know now what we should improve on a bit more now,” she added.
Tougher Tests
UEL next host The School of Oriental and African Studies Second Team, who currently sit third in the league on six points with a game in-hand, on 8th November. The SOAS have won their first two matches before a landslide defeat in the Cup to King’s College London Seventh Team and could provide a stern test for the East Londoners. Inoke spoke of the fixture and mentioned the challenges of players having other ventures.
“It’s going to be tricky because obviously everyone has their own commitments going in to the second and third year and there’s only a couple of first years. I think as long as we put in training and time we’ll be fine for that game,” she said.
