The leading teams in the National League came to the Emirates on Monday night in an intense game to determine who will top the league. University of Strathclyde currently hold the pulp position, having only lost to Glasgow Saltires previously. Glasgow University sit second but unbeaten. With the stellar performances from the teams so far this season, this game was all to play for in pride and dominance.
Strathclyde took the lead immediately, controlling the first 5 minutes and taking 7 consecutive goals as result of a multitude of intercepts in the midcourt and intense pressure. Glasgow finally got their first goal at the 6 minute mark after a tough session working it in the circle.
Q1: 3-15 to Strathclyde University.
Glasgow burst back out on court securing the first 3 goals, slowly working to close the gap. Glasgow appeared to get into a rhythm and their technique tightened as they applied pressure throughout the court to try and pull back. Strathclyde immediately responded to the attack with speed and precision, landing every pass and play. Despite Glasgow’s fierce initial push Strathclyde prevailed as the halftime mark hit, managing to continue an increased lead.
Q2: 11-27 to Strathclyde University
Strathclyde began to settle into their lead as their play became increasingly smooth. As the three quarter mark hit Glasgow struggled to keep up with even a held ball being called. Strathclyde however did not let up, pushing for further dominance. Their resilience and stamina paid off as the quarter ended with them leading by nearly 30 goals.
Q3: 15-44 to Strathclyde University
Two consecutive longbomb goals from Glasgow opened the final quarter as they worked hard despite a clear final result ahead. Both teams pushed on and continued to show some excellent netball, neither side tiring as the clock ticked down.
Cerys Cairns was player of the match with her performance as Strathclyde’s goal shooter being incredibly technical and consistent. Speaking of her performance today Cairns was pleased with the win but was keen to stay vigilant, ‘there were parts that were ugly so on consistently, a bit of a rollercoaster of a game’.
When asked if there was a different mentality from the team today considering Glasgow’s performance so far in the league it was apparent Strathclyde didn’t go into this game with any different mentality as usual ‘we want to win every game so the mentality has to stay the same for that’.
‘We have such a good connection within the group and everyone’s mentality is just win, win, win.’
Strathclyde play Bellahouston next month whereas Glasgow University turn to Dunedin.
