Highland Fever Pitch
2nd February 2023
Despite it being a cold winter Sunday morning, the energy in the Emirates Stadium was anything but dreary. Highland Fever took to court as Scotland continues to develop men’s netball around the country. Their oppositions today were the Glasgow based side, Bellahouston, who compete in Netball Scotland’s National League.
The match opens with the two teams going goal for goal. An early centre pass shows Bella struggling to land the goal but Fever equally unable to move it past the midcourt without it being intercepted. The teams remain equally matched both in agility and pace keeping the first third of the quarter incredibly tense with no room for error. With Highland Fever being called for two held balls within a few minutes the pressure rose for the men’s side but after persevering they finished the first quarter with a slight lead. 11-13.
Second quarter remained much the same but with an increased pace from both sides, Bella looking to close the gap, Fever looking to widen. The result at half time had one goal separating the two sides. 24-25.
Bellahouston took the lead for the first time in Q3 with their defensive third showing more dominance paired with some consecutive fast paced goals. Highland Fever responded immediately and over the second half of the quarter clawed back the 5 goal lead that Bella had obtained. The final two minutes saw the teams fighting for dominance but it ended neck and neck at 32-32.
With everything to play for in the final 15 minutes the teams were laser focused. Within the first 5 minutes Highland Fever took the lead. Bellahouston kept working to close the gap with some brilliant longbomb balls but they struggled to get the overturn. With only 2 minutes on the clock and 2 goals in it the volume of the benches was insane and the pace of the game electric. The game ended with a final flying goal from Highland Fever in the last 5 seconds with a finishing score of 42-45 to the men’s team.
Friendlies like these are vital for Highland Fever as their opportunities to play elsewhere increase. The team are busy organising games against other men’s teams around the country including Leeds Fury and Norfolk as well as further a field.
“We are talking to Isle of Man about possibly going down there and doing a tour there which would be really fun as we played them in the UK championships last year”
When asked about the demand of mixed and men’s netball Henrick Lessing was hopeful for the future. “There is definitely a demand for it. A lot of clubs are seeing the benefit of men coming to play with them and using them as training partners. We want to try and get more schools and maybe unis involved, looking at mixed and men’s leagues.
“I’m chatting about setting up a men’s club in Edinburgh as there is such a demand from juniors all the way up to seniors. So hopefully it kicks it off and gets the ball rolling as its a great edition for netball”
Speaking about the team talk going into the final quarter Lessing was clear that there were still things to improve. “Dig in and cut the errors out, we made way too many errors. The guys are still trying to get used to the basic netball principles like footwork and strong passes. Hopefully these are things we can sort out and get the game flowing better”
Overall it was a successful day for Highland Fever. “It was a very good game! We’re trying different combinations which is good and we’ve got some new guys who haven’t played for us before but they pushed us all the way which was what we needed so it’s good to be put under pressure and I think the guys pulled through really well.”
For more information on Men’s and mixed netball in your area please contact our Netball Development Officers:
Marie Clark – NDOAberdeen@netballscotland.com
Grace Carson – NDOPerthkinross@netballscotland.com
Coreen Davies – NDOEdinburgh@netballscotland.com
Mhairi Patience – NDOGlasgow@netballscotland.com
