Friday Night Thriller As Youngsters Inspire First Win!
Story: 21st October, 2011 | Words: Storm NC | Photos: Andrew Trenoweth

Storm (1) got their first win of the season in the game of the season so far!

High flying Penzance were the visitors to Carn Brea as Storm looked to quickly bounce back from a disappointing display earlier in the week.

The team was looking to put in a much improved performance against a side that had won both of last season's fixtures very comfortably.

Lottie Richardson was still out with an ankle injury, Maggie Moore unavailable, Laura Clews was carrying a hamstring injury and Emma Stevenson was suffering with a thigh strain.

With that in mind Head Coach David White decided to give court time to some of the club's talented younger players as they prepare for the U16 Regional League.

Rebecca Hocking and Laura Butler brought their U16 partnership to the shooting circle while Martha Hilliard took over at Centre and Laura Clews moved back to Wing Defence.

Jenna Waters moved from the shooting position to GK and later GD while Emma Heller started out at GD, Amy Clews continued at Wing Attack.

Two more U16s were on the bench, Beth Thomas and Holly Filkins, alongside Emma Stevenson.

"I figured it was time to give these girls some experience of playing at the highest level in Cornwall," said White. "It was a perfect opportunity to give them lots of court time and see what sort of impact they could make on the game and the team."

The opening quarter was tight and finished level at 12-12. Heller and Waters swapped positions in the second quarter but Penzance edged ahead in the second to hold a 23-21 lead at half time.

Storm remained unchanged and when the visitors took a six goal lead in the third quarter it looked as though they'd finally broken a stubborn Storm resistance.

But it wasn't to be as the home team fought back to trail 32-31 at three quarter time.

Storm made three changes with Beth Thomas replaced Amy Clews at Wing Attack, Laura Clews moved to centre and Holly Filkins came on at Wing Defence, Emma Stevenson came on at Goal Keeper.

Penzance again put a few goals on the board as the new Storm line up took a couple of minutes to settle. Storm found themselves five down before fighting back superbly to take a 40-37 lead.

The visitors then came back themselves and Fern Nichols levelled the scores at 40-40 with two minutes remaining but on the next Storm attack Butler was sandwiched in the circle and Hocking scored from the resulting penalty to give Storm a single goal lead.

Penzance came forward looking for the equaliser and the ball was heading towards the Storm circle when Laura Clews took an interception right on the circle edge to launch a Storm attack. It went in and the defence held firm in the dying seconds to record a fantastic 42-40 victory.

White was full of praise for the whole squad; " It was huge effort from everyone to get this win. The established players really dug deep after the disappointment of the display earlier in the week and the youngsters who came in made a massive contribution and certainly proved they are more than capable of playing at this level. There was so much more passion, drive and commitment on court from everyone and what a thrilling game for our supporters who were in great voice!"

Storm's next first team game is on Friday, 28th October when Bodmin come to Carn Brea Leisure Centre for an 8:30 start.