Young Flames squad gel in first match but reigning premiers Pingelly prevail

Rescheduling of games meant that the Narrogin and Districts Netball Association A1 game between Flames 1 and Pingelly 1 was played on Mother’s Day, with the crowd treated to an an exciting game.

New members to the Flames line-up of Melita Davey, Careese Ranieri, Ashtyn Steer and Kate Poultney brought a new dimension to the already inspiring young Flames team in round two.

In their first ever game together the team bonded well with Steer and Chelsea Mulcahy matching up to the experienced defence of Mel Tinker and Leigh Jennings, shooting strongly against the experienced Pingelly side and coming out ahead 9-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Some nerves showed at the start of the second quarter and Pingelly were quick to take advantage, and although the young team adjusted quickly, excellent shooting by Pingelly’s Sheree Blechynden and Leanne Watts helped them edge back into the game to take the second quarter by four goals and lead 19-17 at half-time.

No goal was an easy one, with continued pressure by Flames defence, a strong combination of Davey and Ranieri with Davey’s incredible vertical jump continually rebounding any missed shots and Ranieri hunting for any stray balls.

The game was exceptionally fast through the mid-court with Abby Munns taking on Alex Hodges over two quarters before injury forced Hodges out for the rest of the game.

Feeding into the shooters was fast and accurate by both teams and conversions by Mulcahy and Jessica Daniels against the strong physical defence of Chloe Hanson and Jennings provided an even quarter for both teams with Pingelly up by two goals going into the final quarter.

The last quarter was everything an A1 game should be with strong driving down the court and beautiful delivery of the ball which was a delight to watch from the sidelines.

Flames continued to fight and although they won the last quarter, Pingelly took the game by a single goal, winning 39-38.

The game between Williams 1 and Wickepin 1 hasn’t been played yet along with the fixture between Wagin 1 and Cuballing 1.