Match Reports: Hockey against Merchiston & Netball against Edinburgh Academy
Netball and Hockey Match Reports
Netball against Edinburgh Academy
Hockey against Merchiston
Wednesday, 26th February 2025
Girls' Netball
U11 Mixed Team
A new fixture list on the calendar presented an opportunity for the girls to play a competitive fixture in unfamiliar surroundings. The teams were merged as the Academy had 3 mixed squads and this presented yet another exciting challenge. All the girls certainly rose to that challenge as the two mixed teams came away victorious.
On Mr Purkiss’ pitch the first quarter saw an attacking masterclass as the ball moved slickly down court and into the grateful hands of Isobel and Calantha. The girls took full advantage scoring freely to take a comfortable 3-0 lead.
The second quarter was more of the same as Sylvia and Cecily worked brilliantly in tandem to keep it tight at the back. Grace, Holly and Imogen controlled the centre court throughout the first half and the girls took a deserved lead at the halfway stage.
In the latter two quarters positions changed to allow for players to experience different areas of the court. Despite protestations from some (‘I literally can’t shoot’), the girls all contributed to fantastic play as they continued to stretch their lead. Whilst all attitudes were exemplary, it was Holly who was particularly impressive as she received deserved plaudits from her opponents.
Mrs Sweeney’s pitch was just as thrilling. In the first quarter Anastasia and Rose proved a lethal attacking combination quickly taking the score to 5-0. In the second quarter things continued to pick up and we saw some lovely long passes down the pitch with Meme in at Centre.
In the middle section of the match, it was lovely to see Lara being in the right place at the right time to help move the ball down the pitch.
Sophia was our brilliant line of defence for the last two quarters thwarting Edinburgh Academy’s chances of scoring. This was beautifully balanced by Sienna’s starring turn as GS earning Belhaven a further three goals in the last quarter and Anastasia was deservedly named player of the match by the Academy team.
Well done to all A and B teams for working so well together!
Boys' Hockey
1st Team
On Wednesday afternoon, Belhaven put in an extremely determined effort against Merchiston. With the 1st team boys playing away at the Thistles tournament, our 2nd team boys stepped up and into position against a powerful Merchiston 1st team.
The game began with a strong opening from both teams. Our captain, Geordie, immediately became a dominant force in the middle, demonstrating superb skill whilst distributing the ball confidently to his team-mates throughout the whole match. As the first quarter developed, Belhaven continued to put pressure on the opposition with Tommy and Juan L using every opportunity to drive the match ball into the D and taking excellent shots on goal which were unfortunately well defended by the Merchiston GK. Just before the end of the first quarter, Merchiston managed to score the first goal after several previous unsuccessful attempts, which was due to Juan’s superb goal keeping skills.
Despite the setback, the team regrouped during the break, reinforcing their key focus for the match – communication and accurate passing. However, Merchiston drove out hard and within minutes had put two more skilful goals in the back of the net. Belhaven continued to fight back with Fergus, Tristan, Bertie and Will creating a strong defensive line which the opposition continually found hard to break through.
The final quarter was packed with energy and when Belhaven took control of the ball, Geordie made some excellent passes into the D which enabled Tommy and Juan to take several shots on goal. However much to the boy's frustration they just couldn’t score. As the final few minutes rolled on, Merchiston scored another 2 goals making the final score 5-0.
A huge well done to the team for their skilful play and for working together right up until the final whistle. A special mention to Juan, our outstanding goalkeeper and Player of the Match, who made some superb saves to keep Belhaven in the game.
2nd Team
The boy's 2nd team played against Merchiston on Wednesday 26th February.
The boys knew that they were about to experience a tough match as they were playing a strong opponent.
Our team was down a goalie and an outfield player so there would be no room for any type of break during this match.
The boys played extremely well and held their ground. We were strong in defence, with Leo, Jack and Kaspar defending the ball brilliantly.
Sadly, Merchiston managed to get through our defence and scored a goal. This didn’t stop our boys from trying their best.
At half time we spoke about things we could improve on. The use of spacing was our focus and how we could best improve it. We spoke about moving around to lose and to create space so that we could get past the Merchiston players.
Our team talk was taken on board, and the boys showed a significant improvement.
Our attackers were working tirelessly together, running back and forth to help support our defenders to be able to get the ball to the opponents' D.
Wilson and Lukas were strong on the wing and brought the ball out wide to then send it down the wing and into the D, where Rocco and Kit were there ready to take their shot on the goal.
Lukas, Wilson and Kit had a brilliant run down the pitch and sent the ball into the D where Rocco then had a shot on goal, but unfortunately the ball narrowly missed. The boys were so incredibly close to scoring their first goal, however Merchiston’s defence were too strong for us.
Our player of the match was awarded to Leo for his outstanding performance in defence.
Despite the score, the boys should be proud of their performance. They played amazingly well and held their ground for the entire match.
