Season ends in defeat

NETBALL:

OLDHAM’S Premier League campaign ended with a 49-36 defeat at the Academy of Middlesex.

It was always going to be a tough ask for Oldham, against a side who were gunning for the title and a day after some of the players were involved in a Superleague fixture in Newcastle.

After a slow start — they were 6-1 down — the visitors scored six goals in a row to go 7-6 in front.

Some fantastic defending from Kerry Almond and Jodie Gibson was appreciated by the crowd.

Olddham also produced some great attacking moves from shooters Alexa Collier and Kathryn Turner as they finished the quarter 12-9 ahead.

Academy stepped up their game in the second quarter and made it increasingly hard for the Oldham attack by reducing the space in the circle.

Feeders Laura Malcolm and Rachel Henry did their best to penetrate the Academy defence, but they struggled with the lack of movement from the shooters.

Academy took the quarter 12-7 to lead the game by two goals.

With no shooting options on the bench, Oldham had to find a way to combat Academy’s defence, but ball after ball went astray.

In an injury time-out Oldham took a chance in the shooting circle by introducing defender Almond at goal attack, after moving Turner because of injury.

The tall Almond was immediately picked out, but she missed her first two attempts in her unfamiliar role.

However, adding height meant more rebounds and, although Oldham improved, they lost the quarter 13-8.

Almond moved to shooter and Turner back to goal attack for the final quarter, but the move did little to help Oldham’s cause as Academy always held the upper hand.

Coach Debbie Hallas said: “We play some great netball but only in patches. As the team matures, this area should improve.”