By Eleanor Clifton
USW 2nds edged a tight encounter 32-27 against Royal Agricultural College at the Sport Park, to make it two wins from two games this season.
The first quarter ended 10-4 to the home side. They dominated play, attacked continuously and moved the ball well via long passes across the court.
USW wing defence Tallulah Cotgrave was a stand-out player, always on the move and making the most of the space she was afforded.
RAG relied more on short-sharp passes, with players forced to get through plenty of work to share the ball.
Throughout the second quarter USW continued to be the more attacking side, though both teams played their part in maintaining the game’s fast pace.
USW led 15-11 at half-time, but a 10-goal burst by RAG hauled them back into the match in the third quarter. The visitors also had success in blocking USW attempts to score with some timely interceptions.
The home side still created more chances, but unfortunately they kept deflecting off the net-post or seeing interceptions by RAG players.
The final quarter produced some brilliant play, with Cotgrave and USW team-mate Nell Downie the pick of the hosts with their quick passing and adept positional play.
USW were also quicker to rebounds off the net in the latter stages and harvested 11 goals in the final quarter.
Even though RAG could only reply with six goals, they never gave up defending and were constantly trying to get the ball back.
RAG goal-minder for three of the four quarters, Iris Lasnet, was also a stand-out player, always making USW work hard for their points.