Member NewsEngland Netball - SuperCup 2003 - Birmingham University BlazeBlaze falter in final quarter and lose to Hurricanes11th May 2003By Siobhan Atkinson
London Hurricanes provided the first major upset of the 2003 Super Cup when they defeated Birmingham University Blaze 52 - 46. Having been 11 goals down by mid way through the second quarter Hurricanes looked like they were out of the running but slowly but surely they fought their way back into the game and in the final quarter they overpowered the Blaze to take their second win of the weekend. Star of the game and possibly the weekend was Hurricanes GK Sonia Mkoloma. On their win she said Blaze were the first to score through Alex Astle and settle into a rhythm quicker than their opposition. Aspinall in the mid court opened well forcing tips and errors from the Hurricanes and several of her quick releases set up good shooting opportunities for Astle and Agbeze. At the end of the first quarter Blaze had a six goal cushion as they lead 17 - 11. The second quarter saw Blaze carry on where they left off initially but mid way through errors started to creep into their game. Hurricanes capitalised on this and scored 10 goals without reply with youngster Louisa Brownfield doing the damage scoring seven of these. Blaze still however had the lead at half time albeit by the slim margin of two goals. The second half saw the Hurricanes really take control of the game mainly instigated by the vocal leadership of Mkoloma, who despite being restricted playing at GK saw her constant calling and encouragement pay off as the Hurricanes went into the lead and the Blaze defence could do little to stop the scoring rate of the team from one half of London. The final quarter saw both teams battling for victory but Hurricanes maintained the upper hand and despite coming within 2 goals on several occasions Blaze could not turn over the Hurricanes. Coach Holland was delighted with her team's win saying, "This team knew they needed to claw back the lead from Blaze. They were prepared to do this for the whole match and we did it. I am more than happy!"Meanwhile Thomson, coach of the Blaze admitted she would need to go back to the drawing board ahead of next weekend's games. Blaze were forced to make lots of changes to their defence line up in order to try counter the Hurricanes attack of Teare and Brownfield who remained dominant whatever combination Blaze fielded. Thomson said, "I am very disappointed we didn't win this game. We didn't stick to the game plan and the things we worked on in training. When we did what we knew we had to do we were in control and this showed in the early stages of the game. We have to learn to follow the game plan for 60 minutes."Captain of the Blaze, Alex Astle echoed her coach's sentiments saying, "I too am disappointed we didn't win this game. We need to play well throughout the whole court as it takes seven players to win a game. I do have to mention Sonia's performance as she was a great leader for the Hurricanes today but the competition is not over yet. There are three more rounds to play before the finals are decided and we know exactly what we need to do if we want to make the final again."Blaze will face Tornadoes and Northern Thunder in their home games next week while Hurricanes will lineup against Team Bath Force and Northern Thunder. Click here to see the Super Cup League Table
Previous Results 2001 Birmingham University Blaze 64 London Hurricanes 36 2002 Birmingham University Blaze 51 London Hurricanes 48 Umpires Mary Stanley FENA A Award Heather Gleadall IFNA Umpire
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