Firsts remain unbeaten, battle to victory!

Edinburgh City 1 (21) – (8) Saint Andrews 1

After the 3s put on a great performance, it was up to the 1s to put on a show for the crowd gathered at Leith Academy. They didn’t disappoint!

Making their season debuts for the 1s were Michael Garbutt, Naobh O’Donaghue and Ella Paul (more from her later!). City got off to a flying start, with plenty of shots and a healthy advantage in rebounding it wasn’t long before the hosts had built themselves a comfortable lead.

 

The starting boys all got themselves double-figure rebounds with Jacky Mo having a monster game grabbing 20 of them! With the rebounds being handled, Ella Paul was free to fire away and she certainly did, scoring a personal record 8 goals in the match and earning the MVP award.

The display from the team was fantastic on both ends of the court, with a high-pressure defence forcing 32 turnovers, and the side would take great confidence into the match against Glasgow.

 

Players (Goals): Daniel Pratt (5), Michael Garbutt, Emma Cottell, Heather Mackintosh (3), Clive Minshull (2), Katrina Caldwell, Ella Paul (8), Naobh O’Donaghue, David Ewing (2), Jacky Mo (1), Finlay Hannah, Ailith Ewing, Andrea Kinver

MVP: Ella Paul

 

Edinburgh City 1 (16) – (13) Glasgow 1

After a comfortable first match City were prepared for a much tighter contest against Glasgow 1, although maybe not quite prepared for the manner in which the match began.

Laura de Nooij managed to finally make her 1s debut, arriving after being treated for a wild cat attack but she regained her composure to help the team to victory.

 

Both teams were matched well, but with the key difference being City’s superior shooting stats. In the first half the citizens shot 4x better than their opponents and this lead to a 10-2 lead at half time.

Daniel Pratt was channeling his inner-Westbrook and stuffing the stat sheet with 3 goals (60% shooting), 3 assists, 4 steals and 13 rebounds in only 22 minutes of action.

 

The second half began well again with Laura de Nooij and Ella Paul getting 7 goals between them, but with the scores at 11-4, Glasgow really began to dominate the rebound battle eventually finishing incredibly lopsided at 48-73 in favour of Glasgow.

This gave them a bit of a foothold in the match, but City stayed calm and continued to score well pushing the score out to 15-7 with 10 minutes left. Daniel Pratt and Dave Ewing came off and the substitutions seemed to throw the balance of the team, with City then finishing off the match on a 1-6 run to leave the final scores far closer than they deserved to be at 16-13.

 

Nevertheless, it’s another win for the 1s and maintains their unbeaten start to the season with 4 wins from 4. Next up will be the true test of how far the team has come, with defending champions Mavericks 1 on the horizon!

 

Players (Goals): Daniel Pratt (4), Michael Garbutt, Emma Cottell (1), Heather Mackintosh, Clive Minshull (2), Katrina Caldwell (1), Ella Paul (3), Naobh O’Donaghue, David Ewing (1), Jacky Mo, Finlay Hannah, Andrea Kinver, Laura de Nooij (4)

MVP: Daniel Pratt

 

Thirds pick up another 2 points!

Edinburgh City 3 (17) – (2) Saint Andrews 2

The thirds were in action this weekend, facing off against Strathclyde 1 who are looking like champions-to-be. But the first match was against Saint Andrews 2, the team that the 3s picked up their first ever win against just a few weeks ago.

City got off to a cracking start with Andrea Kinver hitting her first two shots of the game before Naobh O’Donaghue scored her first of three goals. There was some fantastic play from our Citizens, with plenty of strong rebounding and second-chance opportunities, the home team played out the first half well, going in to the break 7-1 up.

The second half continued in the same vein as the first, except our shooting percentage increased and almost the whole squad got on to the scoresheet! Some slick play from Maria Hantova found her grabbing a couple of goals from close distance and captain Vivek Santayana converted from the spot.

With the team cruising to victory, there was a slight sour note towards the end of the game when Lauren Halkerston was forced off with a knee injury. The initial reports are that it’s not too serious and we hope she’s back on court in the near future.  The final whistle blew and the 3s had their second victory of the season, winning 17-2!

 

Players (Goals): Ailith Ewing, Andrea Kinver (4), Andrew Goode (1), Chris Brown (1), Lauren Halkerston (2), Maria Hantova (2), Naobh O’Donaghue (3), Rob Harding (1), Simon Vandeiken (2), Vivek Santayana (1)

MVP: Lauren Halkerston

 

Edinburgh City 3 (4) – (17) Strathclyde 1

As expected, this match was never going to be easy. The early play was pretty even with both sides trading goals but at 4-2 Strathclyde changed gears and really began to pull away from the hosts.

Naobh O’Donaghue grabbed another hat-trick with Andrea Kinver getting the only other goal for City, but Strathclyde were much too strong in every department. Led by match MVP Ross Fraser who dropped in 5 goals for the winners, Strathclyde took the 2 points with a 17-4 victory.

 

Players (Goals): Ailith Ewing, Andrea Kinver (1), Andrew Goode, Chris Brown, Lauren Halkerston, Maria Hantova, Naobh O’Donaghue (3), Rob Harding, Simon Vandeiken, Vivek Santayana

MVP: Naobh O’Donaghue

Seconds run rampant in Dundee

Edinburgh City 2 (22) vs (8) Dundee 3

The 2nds travelled to Dundee this weekend, taking along with them Elly Gaunt who we haven’t seen for a little while. Along with Elly, Laura de Nooij was making her debut for the club and got off to a great start with 15 goals across the day!

City 2 started the game patiently, lots of shots were going up but it took a little time for them to find their flow, at half time the score was 9-5. But the second half saw the Citizens really find their groove, every player in the squad found the basket and the passing moves were a marvel to watch.

Players (Goals): Andrew Goode (1), Bob Mather (2), Chris Horsely (2), Elly Gaunt (3), Katrina Caldwell (4), Laura de Nooij (7), Lauren Halkerston (1), Michael Garbutt (1), Rob Stone (1)

MVP: Laura de Nooij

 

Edinburgh City 2 (22) vs (0) Saint Andrews 2

The second match was against Saints 2 and our Citizens put on a really dominant display here. The team managed to set an SKL2 record with their 22 goals winning margin, beating the Strathclyde result (21-1) against the same team earlier this season.

Michael Garbutt managed to get his 7 goals playing only 5 minutes of the second-half, in a Steph Curry-esque display, Michael could hardly miss! It was another great team display saw goals from all around the team with every player this weekend got themselves at least 2 goals.

Special praise was given to Rob Stone who was an absolute pest on defence winning many interceptions, dominating the rebound and dishing out some great assists.

After last week’s first win of the season, it looks as though City 2 have really built on the foundations they laid in those matches. Long may their rise continue and we eagerly await their next fixtures on the 2^nd December where they’ll face off against Edinburgh University 2s and 3s.

Players (Goals): Andrew Goode (1), Bob Mather, Chris Horsely (1), Elly Gaunt (1), Katrina Caldwell (1), Laura de Nooij (8), Lauren Halkerston (1), Michael Garbutt (7), Rob Stone (2)

MVP: Laura de Nooij

Perfect start

City 1 had the perfect start to the defence of their league crown in the opening set of fixtures for the 2016/17 season as St Andrews University 1 and Edinburgh Mavericks 2 were the visitors to City’s home turf at Broughton.

The Saints game saw City give debuts to both Lauren Halkerston and Finlay Hannah – City scored consistently throughout the match, with both Lauren and Finlay on the scoresheet, and in the second half the experience of the reigning champions shone through and prevented Saints creating scoring opportunities and City ran out 18-7 winners

A never-to-be-underestimated Mavs 2 made City start very cagily, with the teams level for much of the first half.  City managed to keep applying the pressure throughout the game, with high-intensity defence, good recycling of the ball and regular scoring and came away with a 12-8 victory.

City 2 were scheduled to be taking on division two newbies Strathclyde University and Edinburgh University 3, but unfortunately these matches had to be postponed, so City 2 will have to wait a few weeks to get their title defence underway.