Shrewd tactical changes helped CULNC change the course of the game in their favourMaddy Eno

Cambridge University Ladies’ Netball Club (CULNC) continued their fine start to their Midlands 1A Division season on Wednesday afternoon, coming back from a first quarter deficit to beat the University of Nottingham firsts 49–39 at the University Sports Centre. 

The Light Blues continued to justify the pre-season prediction of a promotion-winning campaign that their captain, Hayley Smith, had given Varsity a fortnight previously. However, out of all their games so far, this was by far the closest , as Nottingham’s attacking pair of Sophie Wills and Hattie Haswell conspired to give the CULNC defence a scare early on. 

Indeed, at the end of the first quarter, the pair had fired the away side into a 14–12 lead, capitalising on the quick feeds coming from centre court and displaying the kind of form that had seen Nottingham fire 49 goals past the University of Birmingham’s seconds earlier this month.

However, CULNC were unfazed by their initial deficit with a tactical intervention at quarter time from courtside coach Helen Stepney helped stem the tide: suddenly, it was the Light Blues’ goalkeeper Lucy Gumbiti-Zimbuto winning the rebounds and holding her space well. An apparent tweak in her defensive approach, whereby she injected an element of pace and extra movement, seemed to unnerve Wills, whose influence on the game in the second quarter was not at the incredible level of the first. 

And further up court, CULNC were beginning to demonstrate how they had put 52 goals past the University of Birmingham’s thirds last week: attacking at lightning speed to whip through the Nottingham defence, the dynamic duo of Maddy Eno and Frances Lee-Barber scoring goals in metronomic fashion, the perfect testament to their shooting work in training.

Yet the game remained finely poised at the halftime break, with Nottingham grabbing a short flurry of goals before the whistle blew to take the score to restrict CULNC to a narrow two-point lead at 26–24. 

With the Light Blues attacking pair looking as threatening as ever, the home side – who were missing captain Smith through injury – looked to shore up their defensive line via the introduction of vice-captain Tara Phillips into wing defence. And the West Country girl made an immediate impact in the centre court, stopping the away side’s Katie Hunt and Daisy Herd pulling Nottingham’s attacking strings in midcourt by putting in a myriad of vital interceptions. 

Indeed, the third quarter saw CULNC up their game at both ends of the court. A high-pressure defence in midcourt ensured possession was fired quickly up to the clinical hands of Lee-Barber and Eno to continuing their impressive shooting while the work of Charlotte Plumtree in goal defence left Nottingham struggling to consistently convert their attacks into goals. With both elements of the team working in tandem, harmonised by the efforts of livewire Sophie Maitland in the centre, the home side began to impose themselves on the game, ending the third quarter eleven goals ahead, at 40–29.

And despite the best efforts of the Nottingham side – including some superb defensive work from Naomi Dyer to keep Lee-Barber under wraps – the damage was done: CULNC looked comfortable as they saw the fourth quarter out to the final whistle, recording a well-deserved 49–39 victory to maintain their 100 per cent record for the new season.

Yet, as injured skipper Smith acknowledged, Nottingham made the Light Blues work hard for their victory. Speaking to Varsity, she observed that “they gave us a real fight, but it was testament both to the talents and the experience of the girls that they managed to respond to the difficulties in the first quarter and really come out flying after the half-time interval. The spirit to come back and go on to win shows how the squad is really beginning to gel, and I'm confident that this winning streak is set to continue.”

The closeness and competitiveness that had made the encounter such an entertaining watch was also noted by Nottingham’s Katie Hunt. Speaking to Varsity, she was gracious in defeat and observed that “it was a well-contested game with some impressive pieces of play from both sides. Going into it, we knew we had a tough game on our hands, having lost to Loughborough 2s the previous week who Cambridge 1s had beaten. We by no means played badly but we had lots of errors which cost us dearly, especially in the 3rd quarter where CULNC stepped up their game. We’ve taken lots of positives from the game and we know that there are certain things we have to work on for the rest of the season.”

CULNC: Eno, Lee-Barber, Haggie, Maitland, Carpenter, Plumtree, Gumbiti-Zimuto, Phillips, Smith (c)

University of Nottingham: Wills, Haswell, Hunt, Herd, Allen, Ross, Dyer (c), Flynn, McAuliffe, Gibson, Deo