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Photos: Jack Western
On a day where the 2nd and 3rd teams recorded convincing victories, the university 1sts made it three out of three as, following a turbulent start, the team rallied to cruise to a comfortable victory after falling behind early on to an erratic Hull side.
The home side expected a win, having only lost to the Hull first team by the smallest of margins earlier in the year; combined with the fact that their opponents were a newly promoted side in York’s division, all seemed to be going to plan when York stormed into a 3-0 lead. However, York failed to capitalise on their early dominance, and a period of lacklustre defending from the hosts gifted Hull a number of cheap goals, with York squandering their lead as the visitors equalised and then leapfrogged York on their way to a 9-6 lead.
Hull were well in their stride, looking good in possession and closing out space in and around the shooting circle to frustrate the York attack. It took a while for York to match the tempo, but in the minutes before half time, they began to create opening, and thanks to an excellent shot from the edge of the shooting circle by goal attack Amy Moye and a very aesthetically pleasing string of passes finished off by goal shooter Emma Loft, York clawed their way back to 9-8 to give themselves some momentum for the second quarter.
And it was momentum which proved vital, as York regained the lead immediately after the restart, a lead they were to retain and build on for the remainder of the match. The Hull attack, so threatening in the first quarter, was rendered impotent as the York defence began closing down space with greater efficiency, captain Nina Pullman leading by example with a number of brilliantly anticipated interceptions.
The attackers too, were playing the game at a greater pace and combining nicely, finding space to give their teammates options and passing the ball at speed, of particular note during the period, a goal by Georgia Neblett, preceded by a fantastic double one-two between the substitute goal shooter and wing attack Browen Dalley-Smith. The Hull defenders were finding themselves chasing shadows as York began to run riot, with the half finishing 20-12.
The third quarter was much the same, with York limiting Hull’s chances on goal exerting their domination in midfield and attack, epitomised by a goal stemming from a magnificent catch by substitute centre Hollie Dixson, who played the ball into Neblett, who, as throughout the quarter, proved absolutely deadly from the edge of the shooting circle.
The final quarter saw both sides tiring, as the game became more open and both defences found themselves stretched. However, even at this late stage, York looked the better side, scoring at a steady pace, whilst Pullman and goal keeper Lottie Knight formed a rock-solid defensive unit as the pair worked together to efficiently extinguish attacks, coming up with a number of crucial interceptions and dealing with rebounds where necessary to close the game out.
The match ended 38-28, and the result was probably a fair representation of the divide between the two teams.
Captain Pullman noted that her team was not as competitive as they might have been in the first quarter, but that it was an ‘overall good performance’ and that her team had an added incentive in this particular fixture, saying ‘we obviously wanted to beat our Varsity rivals’. Furthermore, when pressed, she also sheepishly confessed that the Hull players had seen fit to honour her performance by electing her as the player of the match, a richly deserved award befitting what was a sterling display from the York skipper.
Vision Player of the Match: Nina Pullman