Northern Conference Cup semi-finals await for Team Sunderland Netball 1sts

A confident Team Sunderland Netball 1sts display saw them through to the semi-finals of the Northern Conference Cup against Leeds Gryphons 6ths.

Sunderland took the lead to kick off proceedings and would maintain it until the final buzzer in their first home cup game of the season putting them just one win from the Northern Conference Cup finals day in Durham.

A composed yet tenacious Ella Trott caught the eye in the first quarter racking up nine assists from wing attack with play flowing through her, while Sophie Hutchinson started her dominant night of scoring with eight points.

At the other end Ashley Kamga was imperious at goalkeeper, recording four interceptions, three rebounds and one block to send the home side into the first break with a scoreline of 16-9.

Sunderland came back out on the front foot with Hutchinson adding another 11 to her tally and another seven assists for Trott to stretch the lead to 10 at half time, where multiple changes saw the leading side remain fresh.

One of those changes saw Trott move to goal attacker, where she would get the first point of the third quarter while Lucy Brooks, who earned the opposition player of the match, moved into the vacant wing attack role.

Abby Cass also had a prominent 15 minutes as she moved from wing defence to goal defence, and showed high energy towards the end of the quarter despite not missing a minute to the point recording three more intercepts to her previous two – while also adding two rebounds. Two blocks by captain Kamga also helped open the lead up to 15.

Cass departed in the final interval as Megan Cowan reclaimed her stake at goal defence, in what proved to be a successful quarter as she adding a long-ranged assist to her game as well as two further interceptions.

Team Sunderland Elite Athlete Hutchinson continued in her scoring prowess as she added 41 to her season tally on the night, but it was a well-organised and highly-energised team performance that shot Sunderland through to the semi-final where they will face Newcastle University 4ths – who lay top of Sunderland’s league with just one loss all season.

STATS

Sophie Hutchinson: 41 points, 1 rebound

Georgia Turnbull: 10 points, 10 assists

Ella Trott: 1 point, 21 assists

Lucy Brooks: 1 point, 7 assists

Joie Chia: 8 assists

Rosie Mulcahy: 4 assists, 1 rebound

Megan Cowan: 1 assist, 1 rebound, 4 interceptions, 1 block

Ashley Kamga: 4 rebounds, 8 interceptions, 4 blocks

Abby Cass: 2 rebounds, 5 interceptions