United put in solid shift to see off Foxes

At times there was little between Loughborough Foxes and Sheffield United. Cup games are great levellers of course. Although, as recently as last season these two sides lined up against each other.

United ran out winner 2-0 to set up a fifth-round tie against Aston Villa next Sunday. They were made to work for it against a well-organised Foxes side.

At any other venue, this game could have been called off for the second week in a row; as sitting water on the stadium pitch meant it was not fit to play on. Loughborough University has quality facilities and another pitch was found although squelchy in places. It did nothing though to diminish the quality of the football as both teams looked to pass it around and create the chances.

United thanks in part to their elevation to the Championship were the favourites against Loughborough Foxes a team now in the tier below. For large parts of the game, United bossed the important areas in midfield but the Foxes held on. There were times when the home side looked capable of causing an upset. Eva Rogers was sharp in attack and a couple of runs caused the United back line problems. Her best chance came on 50 minutes when she lost her marker and the ball deflected off the crossbar.

Charlotte Cooper was the first player to test either of the keepers as she broke free and forced Nikki Davies the Welsh international to make the save.

Amy Burle was the busier of the two keepers but could do nothing to stop Alethea Paul’s 14th-minute strike from the 20 yards out and curled out of the reach of Burle beat her dive.

Burle made several crucial saves, most of which denied Ebony Salmon from scoring a hat full. The best of the lot was in the forty-second minute when Salmon was again denied by a stretching stop prevented the South Yorkshire side doubling their lead just before half-time.

Much of United’s good work came down the right with Jade Pennock who put in a cross after cross only to see her efforts miss her teammates agonisingly in front of goal.

Veatriki Saari doubled the United lead finishing after a scramble inside the Foxes box reacting quicker than anyone else to make things safe for the Championship side. 

Belles and Forest battle out for share of the points

It always feels melodramatic when you say that two sporting teams are fighting for survival. Today at Eastwood that didn’t feel too far off the truth as both Nottingham Forest and Doncaster Rovers Belles scrapped their way to a hard-earned 1 -1 draw.

The Eastwood pitch an artificial surface with a decent covering of rubber crumb that was sent flying every time the players made passes or clearances. It wasn’t the only thing that way flying as the tackles came in hard and fast.

The referee did at times allow the game to carry on but was made to make two contentious calls that could have cost either side the game.

The two sides met earlier in the season with both teams yet to find their way in the division. On that occasion, it was Forest who ran out comfortable winners with a 3-1 win. The Belles must have worried that a repeat performance was about to happen.

On that October afternoon, Forest took the lead in the first minute. In this game, Forest took slightly longer but they were in the lead half way through the second minute a Trina Greeves shot across goal found its target.

Neither team settled perhaps with points at a premium neither side wanted to be the first to concede ground. The midfield was marshalled well by both sides. That changed towards the end of the first half as the Belles broke through the Forest defence and Chloe Bethell with a surging run was brought down by Grace Walters.

With another defender alongside Walters and the goalkeeper to beat it looked like a straight forward call for a yellow card. The referee felt otherwise and sent the Forest defender to the stands.

It was a harsh call. Forest was the stronger team in the first-half their physicality and willingness to win the second ball was key.

The side from Doncaster grew in belief in the second half and they did look to use their player advantage in the second half and it worked to a degree. The killer ball rarely came; it came from a mistake by Forest keeper Rebecca Thomas. who could not get low down quick enough to a Lauren Breen shot and the ball squirmed under her.

Forest carried on their assault of the Belles goal and it nearly paid off with the 90 minutes coming to an end. It was Forest midfielder Graves who on the ball in the area seemed to tumble under minimum contact and the referee pointed to the spot.

If the roles were reversed Forest would have felt hard done by. The Belles players didn’t complain and had faith that Emily Batty would save the spot-kick. That she did as the as Charlotte Griffin’s shot was comfortably saved.

Its a result moves the Belles outside of the bottom two places, while Forest remain unbeaten since the league’s return at the start of January. Both sides will take both positives from this game but they will be well aware that they have a lot of hard work to come in the following months.

My first netball match - Loughborough Lightning v Strathclyde Sirens

I had never been to a netball match until today. I’m not sure why the reason for that is. Scheduling and access would have been a major factor but in truth, netball had been well off the radar. The success of the England side has done much to change much of that.

It is a big year for netball, and it was partly due to this and a fluke in my hockey sides fixtures that I could attend. One of the big draws with netball as a winter sport is that at the highest levels it is played indoors.

I have only been to cricket events in Loughborough and it would be good to broaden my horizons. I didn’t really know what to expect going into the game. A few messages to friends who play netball reassured me that I would soon pick up the gist of things.

I was told to look out for just how physical netball can be for a non-contact sport – a bit like hockey in that respect- it did lead to one of the umpires calling the captains together to calm things down just before half-time.

I don’t think it is any secret that I have a soft spot for one of the Loughborough Lightning franchises (no prizes for guessing which one) so it was the side I chose to support in their game against Strathclyde Sirens.

One of the most impressive features of the game was just how fast and accurate the passing was; even the warm-up drills were mesmerising, with players crisscrossing each other throwing the ball in the air at different angles.

With the game about to start the teams were introduced and in showbiz style, the Loughborough Lightning team were introduced in style with the lights dimmed and a video showing the intensity that the side was going to show magnified.

The game itself was a close affair for much of the first half. The Sirens matched the Lightning scoring almost blow for blow and in Cathrine Tuivaiti they had a figurehead. Tuivaiti was always eager to get the ball and showed some outstanding pieces of skill; she made passes without looking at the player she was passing to and getting it there, she had a few tricks up her metaphorical sleeves.

The Sirens looked the stronger of the two teams in the first-half but Loughborough Lightning ended each of the first two quarters the stronger and piped the first quarter 13- 12.

The Lightning had their own figurehead in Mary Cholhok who was awarded player of the match although Tuanine Keenan who grew in confidence throughout the game and shut out the threat of Tuivaiti for much of the second-half.

Along with Ella Clark Lightning was

hardly missing the net. Cholhok never looked like missing in the first three quarters and only started to waiver off target in the fourth quarter with the match as good as won; although, the crowd were still nervous with the lead never being more than 6 points ahead.

That was until the final five minutes and the Lightning started to pull away to win 60 – 49.

The players stayed around after the game to sign autographs and the home fans went away happy having not only having seen their heroes win but also getting their autographs and posing for selfies with them.