Prem: Eagles 68 Trafford 42

Sunday 30 October 2022

Eagles played host to Trafford, seeking to maintain their 100% winning record in Prem 3.

The game started well for Trafford as they raced into a 5-1 lead. Eagles, however, restored order by some fast and slick passing through the midcourt driven by the Nightingale twins and excellent defensive pressure by Leah Middleton, Charlotte Maxfield and Tori Fisher. This resulted in Eagles taking the quarter 19-13.

Eagles continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over in the 2nd quarter with accurate shooting from Regan Peters and Libby Burgess.

It seemed that Eagles would run away with the match in Q3, when Sophia Shalabi entered as centre, Summer Knight as WA and Katie Fisher as WD, resulting in several effective turnovers and Eagles stretching their lead to 53-27. Summer demonstrated her long passing skills to great effect during the quarter.

In the 4th quarter Georgie Maxfield supported the Eagles attack with incisive feeds into the shooting circle. Eagles GS left the court with an injury to the face and was replaced by Leah Middleton moving from GK - a task she accomplished with aplomb, scoring 3 out of 3! A late charge from Trafford, however, meant that the quarter was drawn 15-15. But Eagles had already done the damage and took the win 68-42.

Player of the match went to Jasmine Nightingale for a stellar performance as centre in the first two quarters.

Prem: Northants Storm 42 Eagles 61

Sunday 23 October 2022

Looking to hold on to their winning streak Eagles travelled up to Northampton where they face Northants Storm in their fourth game of the season. Eagles were coming into the game undefeated, so stakes were high. The game started well contested going goal for goal for the first quarter with some good patient play from the midcourt opening up the circle in attack.

Going into the second quarter eagles were 1 goal up. The second quarter saw the introduction of Katie fisher at GD, and the spirits of the team lifted. Defensive pressure through court was amazing forcing balls off court and great interceptions from Leah Middleton and Charlotte Maxfield alongside this was some quick midcourt transition and accurate shooting from Libby Burgess. Which had eagles 9 goals up going into half time.

The girls then carried their drive into the third quarter where the intensity picked up and they extended their lead to 45:33. The intensity carried on and Eagles continued to turnover and convert ball to extend their lead. Eagles ended up coming away with a 61:42 win. Player of the match went to Regan Peters for her consistent shooting and calmness under pressure in the circle.

Prem: Eagles 57 Thoroughbreds 30

Sunday 16 October 2022

Eagles went on court on the 3rd prem match, facing Thoroughbreds, who had previously played in 2 very close matches against the other newly promoted teams. Eagles started the match very strongly, with many passes being turned over in the centre court. The contesting in Eagles shooting circle didn’t put off the shooting duo of Regan Peters at GA and Libby Burgess at GS. From Thoroughbreds centre, Eagles defense put up a impenetrable wall, making it difficult for Thoroughbreds to get feeds into their shooting circle. With 2 and a half minutes to go, Eagles had a 14-0 lead before Thoroughbreds scored their first goal. The first quarter ended with an impressive score of 17-4.

We entered the 2nd quarter, with a change of the Nightingale twins, Jas and Jemma, coming on at C and WA. Both were working well with Charlotte Maxfield, with all 3 making strong drives through court to deliver the ball to the attack. With the Thoroughbreds doing a defensive double on Libby Burgess, Regan Peters worked hard to feed and shoot with her iconic long bombs. Thoroughbreds were now settling to play their game, finishing with a quarter score of 16-10, and a collective score of 33-14.

To start the 3rd quarter, we saw Summer Knight coming on at WA, the introduction of Katie Fisher to GD, and Surrey Storm Superleague player Leah Middleton being moved to GK. Her 3 foot mark and impeccable timing of her jump meant Eagles defense were turning over lots of ball. Coming back from a quarter off, Sophia Shalabi was quick at picking up loose balls, with beautiful feeds into the circle. The 3rd quarter ended with a score of 45-23 to Eagles.

Beginning the last quarter, Eagles were keen to finish off on a high. There was a swap of positions for Katie Fisher and Leah Middleton, and Georgie Maxfield was put on at WA. Eagles squad fitness and resilience saw them finish the match with a score of 57-30.

A big shoutout to Charlotte Simpson for her incredible commentary on the livestream, and congratulations to Regan Peters for getting Player of the Match.

Prem: Ryland 36 Eagles 57

Sunday 2 October 2022

Eagles faced their first away game against Ryland, one of our more local opponents, at Bromsgrove School. Off the back of last weeks win, we were on a high and ready to go with the starting seven lineup including the introduction of Surrey Storm’s Leah Middleton who made her Prem debut.

The game started well contested, goal for goal at either end with Eagles starting to pull away with a few turnovers in Ryland’s shooting circle which Eagles converted. We continued to build and finished the quarter with a strong 14-5.

Second quarter saw the introduction of Katie Fisher at GD and Leah move back to GK. We started the quarter strong but Rylands defensive shakeup and our complacency saw the game fall static and Ryland win the quarter by 1 goal so Eagles’ early lead was maintained.

The second half saw the introduction of Summer Knight and a defensive restructure to combat Ryland’s quick attack after their attacking changes made some disturbance. We found our second wind, the intensity picked up and we pulled away to have a strong quarter with some amazing mid court intercepts from Sophia Shalabi, finishing 42-28.

A confident start to the last quarter with the defence duo of Tori Fisher and Leah finding the ball left, right and centre. We continue to solidify our spot in the Prem League with a 57-36 win and player of the match was Libby Burgess for her consistent shooting.

Prem: Eagles 56 Leyton 30

Sunday 25th September 2022

Great match to start the season we started off a little slow with the start of the quarter playing a little frantic but towards the end of the quarter we began to settle. With the first quarter ending 14-9.

Feeling confident going into the next quarter after making a few changes in players with the twins Jemma and Jasmine Nightingale making a dynamic difference that worked great leaving us with a 13 goal lead at half time.

Second half became far more physical with players having to dig deep although we continued to maintain and gain lead as the physicality increased. Our defensive combo in the circle both being sisters Katie and Tori Fisher worked as a great unit and created a hard defence for the shooters. We took on a caution which meant we needed to change and adapt our game. Our youngest players of the team Regan Peters and Sophia Shalabi being only 16 stepped up meeting the physicality of the game making a major impact on the team.

The final quarter was a strong finish from both teams always pushing till the end with a final score of 56-30.