' a time to celebrate a time to be inebriated a time to mourn a time to groan. Finally I have the impetus to sign in. Travelled back home and was at the game- met up with the Lady netballers I met in Calgary and was at their qualifying WC matches .last night was a different tale with a different ending.
True in my opinion we started strong- attacking and controlling the play in the opposition end . Impressive runs by 19 and 12 KC and AM. However, my observations were:
1 our first touch and quickness to the ball was better than Ecuador however our second touches were suspect
2 our offensive penetration up the middle was a challenge - moving KC to the middle in the second half was not as effective
3 it appears to me that in the second half, our energy, our attack was not as consistent as the first- conditioning appeared to be a factor. 19 and 12 were not running at the defence as the first half-
4. Team support up front was negligent- still too much individual play.
5. FINISH FINISH- we needed better finishes.
In my opinion, a team ought to be progressively better after taking on the likes of the USA CR and Mex, I for one was expecting not only a better result but to see a team that would be playing at a faster pace, and with more technical and tactical positional play. Ecuador is not in the same league as some of the teams we played, yet our offence struggled against that defender. Shots on goals were near misses and not dangerous enough to challenge the goalkeeper.
In my opinion, Ecuador withstood the storm of the first half and hence it was a morale victory for them conversely, we appeared deflated after coming away with zero for the effort- thus said the second half was a different story.
Our effort , spirit and passion were evident in the first half more so but objectively, the hustle . And intensity in the second half was waning.
I am still disappointed because it is like an opportunity lost or thrown away- not because Ecuador showed any quality as world beaters but because we allowed a slip up which was about the one of only
three real chances at goal that decided the game.