Round 8 Match Report – IMB South Coast Blaze VS Manly Warringah Sapphires
Opens
With both teams sitting next to each other on the ladder, this was predicted to be a close game for our IMB South Coast Blaze Opens side.
Both teams saw early turnovers thanks to their defence ends, with the game going goal-for-goal until some costly errors from Blaze saw Manly take an early 5-2 lead. Blaze failed to capitalise on turnovers being made by Bradley and Holland in the defence end, however Blaze was moving the ball with speed through the midcourt, with nice ball movement between McFadden and Brice bringing the score to 7-5. Midway through the first quarter, Johnson came on as WD and Begley as Centre. Manly capitalised on minor errors from the Blaze to extend its lead to 16-12 at quarter time.
The second quarter saw Parrott return to WD. Intercepts by the Blaze defence end, with Parrott’s quick hands around the circle edge, again secured turnovers for Blaze, however wayward passes at the attack end failed to turn those into goals. Mallon came on as GA early in the second quarter, making an immediate impact with an intercept bringing the score back to 19-21. Passing errors again saw Manly extend its margin to 5 goals, however Holland and Bradley’s rebounding in the defence end, together with a buzzer beater from Brice, reigned that back in with Blaze trailing 29-31 at half time.
Half time brought no changes to the lineup and the game again went goal-for-goal. Errors from both teams saw the ball go back and forth for some time, with Manly eventually creeping out to a 36-32 lead. With ten minutes remaining, Johnson returned to the WD position and made an immediate impact with an intercept. With just over seven minutes remaining, Danielle Di Bartolo came on as GA. Good rebounding by Bradley and Holland led to Brice rewarding them with goals, reducing the deficit to just two goals. Sneaky passing between Di Bartolo and Bruce saw Blaze hang in there. Holland again came up with a crucial intercept, but wayward passes in the midcourt gave the ball back to Manly. Three quarter time score 41-44.
Heading into the final quarter, Vassallo returned to Centre and McFadden to GA. Early defensive pressure from the Blaze midcourters saw the margin again reduced to two goals, 46-48. Despite intercepts by Holland and errors from Manly, the Blaze attack end just couldn’t convert them into goals. With three minutes remaining, Manly looked to be pushing its lead out when Davies took a crucial intercept. 54-56 with Blaze centre to follow. Blaze turned the ball over in the attack end, but Holland rebounded a wayward shot from Manly and sent the ball down the McFadden who scored to make it 55-56. Goals to Manly and McFadden took the score to 56-57, Manly centre pass. Johnson came up with an intercept and the ball got down to Brice who scored to level it at 57-57 with 30 seconds remaining. Blaze centre pass, with the midcourters again getting the ball to Brice who took Blaze to a one goal lead to set up a thrilling finish with 15 seconds remaining. Manly scored a quick goal to level again. Blaze had the final centre pass, but unfortunately the clock beat them with the final score 58 all.
Under 23s
With both teams sitting equal third on the ladder, this game was destined to be a good matchup and our IMB South Coast Blaze Under 23s team didn’t disappoint.
Blaze got out to an early 5-3 lead following defensive turnovers and then goals from Schwenke and Evans. Manly were quick to capitalise on errors and caught back up at 5-5. Loy showed strong defensive pressure and Blaze moved the ball moved easily down court when in possession. A crucial intercept by Landrigan with 3 minutes left in the quarter delivered the ball to Schwenke who rewarded her with a goal to lead 11-9. Behr game on as GD and made an immediate impact, intercepting the ball. Manly again capitalised on minor errors in the Blaze attack end, pegging back two goals to make it 11-11. With seconds to go, Behr made a crucial tip and Blaze progressed the ball down court with urgency and scored on the buzzer. 12-11 at quarter time.
Second quarter saw Baker come on in the Centre position. Whole court defensive pressure by the Blaze forced Manly to make errors. Good connections between Evans and Schwenke in the goal circle saw Blaze move to 15-13 early in the quarter. The teams went goal-for-goal for most of the second quarter. Loy returned to the Centre position with minutes remaining in the quarter. Half time score 24-24.
Third quarter saw a number of positional changes, with A.Chadrawy coming on as GK, Dunn moving to GA, Baker back on in WA and Bowden to WD. Blaze had an early turnover in the attack end, but A.Chadrawy recovered with an intercept and Dunn rewarded after a spectacular rebound of her own shot. Manly capitalised on early Blaze errors, with Blaze trailing 27-29 early in the third quarter. Dunn scored following an intercept by Bowden to level the score again at 29-29. Blaze made Manly pay for several errors, creeping ahead to 31-29 when S.Chadrawy came on as Centre. She immediately intercepted the ball and Schwenke scored to extend the lead to 35-32. S.Chadrawy again tipped the ball and it was cleaned up by A.Chadrawy. Wayward passes from the Blaze let Manly back into the game, bringing it back to 35-34. Schwenke scored on the buzzer to head to the break two goals up 36-34.
The final quarter again saw numerous changes, with Loy back on as WA, Behr moved out to WD and Landrigan as GD. S.Chadrawy secured an early intercept and Dunn scored to take the lead out to 38-34. Following further defensive pressure and an intercept by Behr, Blaze pushed the lead out further to 44-38. Burden joined the game as GK, with Bowden back on as GD and Evans as GA. Manly commenced a fightback, bringing the margin back to 2 goals. Following a flying intercept by Behr, Schwenke scored to make the margin 3 goals. Great defensive efforts by Burden and Bowden kept Manly from scoring a late goal, helping Blaze to win by 3, 47 – 44.
