Warwick Given Pasting By Oxford Netballers
Warwick's netball team kit may resemble that of Man Utd's with their red shirts, black skirts and gold emblazoned emblem, but that was where the similarity with the styles of play ended. In a match that saw slick moves from Oxford, with good fast positioning and thinking, Warwick were left lacking ideas and, it has to be said, the skill to match.
From the outset, Oxford went soaring in to the lead and did not look back. Warwick were awkward in their style of play and their defending was nowhere near good enough to stop Oxford's shooters who had impressive accuracy. By the end of the first quarter it was 15-4 to Oxford.
The second quarter did see a brief resurgence by Warwick with Oxford stepping off their initial pace slightly, allowing Warwick to string a few moves together, but the Blues remained dominant. The Blues' England goal defence was in fine form and managed to prevent Warwick capitalising from their improvement in play in the middle of the court. By the end of the first half it was 23-10 to Oxford; they were in cruise control.
During half-time a man watching the game asked "How many quarters are there in a netball game, 4?" Warwick were probably wishing this amazing mathematical insight was wrong, as their second half performance did not improve. The third quarter saw fantastic shooting on the part of Oxford, increasing their tally by 14 goals, whereas Warwick could only muster a paltry three, with their few attacks being frantic and scrambled affairs. The game by this point would have become fairly difficult to watch with Oxford looking like they were having it all to easy, but for the interesting and fairly aggressive performance from Warwick's goal defence, who was clearly going to question any umpire's decision as if it was that which was losing her team the game.
With the scores by the end of the third quarter at 37-13, inevitability was written all over the encounter, with both teams dropping the pace, yet Oxford still maintaining control. Warwick's few attacks tended to be fairly uninventive and Oxford's defenders had little difficulty in dealing with them. When the final whistle blew, with the scores at 48-16, one couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief that one wouldn't have to watch Warwick suffer anymore.
The performance sees Oxford consolidate their second position in the league, and with one match remaining at the group stage this is the best they can hope for. Their final game against league leaders Birmingham, will be a greater test.
14th Feb 2002