League Match Reports

On Tuesday 15^th June, with Israel Netball's first league season about to come to an end, the playoffs were held at Modi'in. The results of the two games were quite predictable: in the first match between Ma'aleh Adumim and Jerusalem Mercaz, who were granted permission to make up their numbers by using several younger players, J-town had the upper hand throughout and won by 41-17. The second match saw Ra'anana playing Modi'in. Intimidated by their stronger rivals, the home team seemed unable to rise to the challenge and were beaten by 42-7.

 

The competition between Modi'in and Jerusalem Mercaz and the finals between the closely matched Ra'anana and Ma'aleh Adumim promise to be more exciting.

 

At Ra'anana's home court on Wednesday 26th May, Ra'anana met Tel Aviv for the second time this season.  Ra'anana's strong opening seven managed to reach their stated target of 20 goals in the first quarter and scored a further nine in the second quarter. Tel Aviv attacked and defended particularly well in the third quarter, scoring six goals against Ra'anana's single goal but were unable to come close in the final quarter when Ra'anana scored another 18 goals bringing the final score to 48-16.

The Tel Aviv netballers should be commended for their huge improvement since they first played against Ra'anana only a few short months ago and lost by 46-7.

 

In their final match of the season, Modi'in played against Jerusalem Mercaz on Monday 24th May in Modi'in. To make up for their loss against Tel Aviv the previous week, Modi'in was determined to win this game in the hope of making it to the playoffs. The teams were evenly matched in the first quarter with Modi'in just leading by 7-6. In the second quarter, Modi'in played very well against their older rivals and managed to increase their lead by 16-9. They remained ahead to end the third quarter with a score of 22-14.

Jerusalem rallied in the last and most exciting quarter and succeeded in scoring 11 goals to Modi'in's 5, mainly thanks to Susie Komar's and Yehudit Liberman's magical work together in the shooting circle! To my fellow shooters, this was the kind of teamwork we should all aspire to...

With their success in this match (the final score was 27-25), the Modi'in ladies are eagerly awaiting the results of this Wednesday night's match when Tel Aviv plays Ra'anana. The Tel Aviv team is not expected to win but if they come within 5 goals of Ra'anana and gain 2 points, they will be on a par with Modi'in in the standings. If, however, they manage to tie with Ra'anana and gain 3 points, that will just give Tel Aviv the edge!

 

A day later (Monday 17th May) at the same location, Ra'anana faced Jerusalem Mercaz for the second time this season. As expected, the Ra'anana team forged ahead in the first two quarters to end the half with a score of 19-6. Playing less well in the third quarter, Ra'anana scored only one goal to Jerusalem's four. The Jerusalem ladies put up a wonderful fight but were outplayed by Ra'anana who won the match by 26-13. 

Date: Sunday 16th May, Location: Modi'in, Teams: Modi'in and Tel Aviv, Event: Rematch to make up for the night the lights went out – the first time!

This match will definitely go down as one of the most exciting this season. The game opened with a very determined Modi'in team anxious to repeat their first victory and an equally determined Tel Aviv team set to beat their rivals. Modi'in started out very strong and by the end of the first half were up by 15-9.

But the second half, particularly the last quarter, belonged to Tel Aviv. Inching ahead to 19-18 at the end of the third quarter, Tel Aviv continued widening the gap to finish the game with a score of 30-24. This gave the Tel Avivians their first win this season, to the great satisfaction of their supporters.

Well done to all the players, you should all be extremely proud of yourselves!

On Tuesday 11th May in Ma'aleh Adumim, a total of 70 goals were scored in the match between Ma'aleh Adumim and Modi'in, with the much stronger home team chalking up a resounding victory.

Leading by 14-1 and then by 27-4 at the end of the first half, Ma'aleh Adumim exhibited excellent netball skills, as well they should with the much improved play of all their players particularly those on the national squad.

Anyone who has ever played competitively understands how difficult it is to remain focused when playing against a far better team. The Modi'in ladies, who rallied somewhat in the second half, scoring 5 and then 4 goals in the remaining two quarters, must therefore be commended for their passionate play and fight until the final whistle when the scoreboard showed a score of 57-13.

The night the lights went out again…

In Modi'in on Sunday 25th April, Tel Aviv was scheduled to play their close rivals Modi'in. The match started with both teams again determined to beat the other. To begin with, it seemed that Tel Aviv was going to win their first match this season. The game was close and every ball was fought over, but Tel Aviv maintained their lead from 8-6 in the first quarter, to 12-7 at the end of the first half, and in the third quarter both teams scored 5 goals each, bringing the score to 17-12.  

At the beginning of the last quarter, the determined Modi'in team gained the advantage scoring several goals in quick succession to give them a 1-point lead. Then, who would have believed it, with the Tel Avivians holding the ball in their shooting circle, at almost exactly the same moment as in the previous encounter – there were just under 10 minutes left to play - the lights went out!

Disappointed and frustrated the first time this occurred, none of the players was prepared to let the same thing happen a second time. Phone calls were made to the relevant authorities who were told that no-one was leaving the court until the match had been brought to a successful conclusion! The two teams, officials and spectators waited for close to 45 minutes before the lights were turned on again and the game was restarted from the point at which it had been interrupted. Despite the long break, the Modi'in ladies played wonderful netball for the remaining 9 and a half minutes of the match and to their absolute delight went on to their first win of the season with a score of 22-18.

 

The Jerusalem Mercaz club players were in good form in Modi'in on Wednesday 21st April when they played against their Tel Aviv rivals. Leading by 8-5 at the end of the first quarter, the Jerusalem ladies were stronger than the newer Tel Aviv players. Although missing one of their star players, Tel Aviv fought back well in the second quarter when a total of only seven goals were scored, and they held Jerusalem to a score of 12-8.

Despite some great play by the Tel Aviv netballers, overall Jerusalem performed better than them in the second half and at the final whistle the score was 28-17.

Jerusalem Mercaz played against Ma'aleh Adumim on Tuesday 13th April at the latter's home court. Ma'aleh Adumim's opening seven were much stronger and faster than their opponents gaining a 12-3 lead which continued to the end of the first half with a score of 20-7.

The long, hard and accurate passes of the older Jerusalem players helped them to a third quarter score of 32-14. In the last quarter they scored more goals than Ma'aleh Adumim but still lost to them by 39-24. However this much improved score - compared to that in their previous match against the same opponents (34-15) - gained them a point in the league table.

Playing against the Modi'in team on Sunday 21st March for the second time this season, the current league leaders Ra'anana again demonstrated their far greater experience in match play.

Only in the third quarter did the Modi'in players manage to hold their own, and though down by 29-6 at the end of the first half, succeeded in scoring 7 goals to Ra'anana's 8. All the Ra'anana netballers exhibited wonderful netball skills on the entire court, but the most credit must go to the national squad's coach, Carol Levin, whose brilliant shooting brought the team their fifth successive win with a score of 56-15.

Playing in Ma'aleh Adumim on Tuesday 16th March, the Tel Aviv ladies met the Ma'aleh Adumim team in an exciting match that marked the beginning of the second half of the netball season. The equal score of the first quarter (4-4) was a clear indication of how hard both sides needed to work to score their goals. Demonstrating better shooting skills, Ma'aleh Adumim ran away with the second quarter (15-7) and continued their lead into the third with a score of 22-9. The Tel Avivians put on a very strong fight in the last quarter to narrow the gap gaining 11 goals to Ma'aleh Adumim's 7.

With a final score of 29-20, the Tel Aviv team can be justly proud of their improvement in play, especially since in the previous match against the same opponents, the Ma'aleh Adumim ladies beat them by 23 goals.

Tel Aviv met Jerusalem Mercaz in Modi'in on Wednesday 10th March. The Modi'in club players turned out to watch their rivals on court play a very close match from start to finish. Tel Aviv were ahead by 3 goals at the end of the first quarter but Jerusalem Mercaz fought back well to overtake them and close the first half with a 14-9 score.

Attesting to the excellent defence skills of both sides, only 6 goals were scored in the third quarter - 4 by Tel Aviv and 2 by their opponents - and half that number in the final quarter. The game ended with a second win this season for Jerusalem Mercaz, 18-14, but also gave Tel Aviv their first two points in the league standings.

The most closely fought match of the season so far was played on Wednesday 3rd March when Ra'anana met Ma'aleh Adumim at Ra'anana's home court. Both teams are proud to have several national squad players as well as players who have played for our country in the past.

The first quarter which ended with a score of 9-8 was very tight with Ra'anana scoring one more goal than their opponents. By half-time Ra'anana had pulled further ahead to 18-12 and even further at the end of the third quarter to 30-15. Ma'aleh Adumim fought back very bravely in the last quarter and scored a number of successive goals within a few short minutes. However Ra'anana remained in the lead and won the match by 33-29.

In Israel Netball's very first league season and in a match such as this, a tough decision has been made by some of the teams to keep the best players on and go for the win rather than give every single player on each team the opportunity to play and gain much-needed match experience. It should be noted that all the Ma'aleh Adumim players were on court for at least one quarter while the Ra'anana team chose to leave some of their players on the bench. 

The night the lights went out...

Modi'in played Tel Aviv on Sunday 21st February at Modi'in in what should have been the eighth league match. The Tel Aviv ladies arrived later than expected and the game, which should have started at 21.15, did not get going until 21.35. At the outset, both teams were confident that they could win and indeed the first quarter was very close, ending with a score of 6-5 to Modi'in. However, in the second quarter the Tel Aviv team spurted forward to win the first half by 16-8 and they were still ahead at the end of the third quarter 19-11. The tenacious Modi'in players were resolved to win, defended brilliantly - preventing their opponents from scoring - and in the first five minutes of the last quarter scored four goals in quick succession.

At this exciting point in the match with a score of 19-15 to Tel Aviv, the floodlights, which are set on a timer, suddenly went out! Both teams were hugely disappointed at not being able to finish the match. Since the score was so close and the game could have gone either way, it has since been decided to hold a rematch.

Watch this space for details of when and where.... 

 

On Sunday 7th February Modi'in played against Jerusalem Mercaz on Modi'in's outside court. Ignoring the cold temperatures both teams put on an excellent show to the delight of the local spectators. In the first two quarters, Jerusalem Mercaz easily outplayed Modi'in and the first half ended with a score of 18-4. However the Modi'in team were not going to be easily beaten and scored 10 and 9 goals in the third and fourth quarters respectively against Jerusalem's 7 and 6. The very exciting seventh league match ended with a score of 31-23 giving Jerusalem Mercaz their first win of the season.

Israel Netball's newest club, Tel Aviv, met the strong Ra'anana team on Wednesday 3rd February in Ra'anana for the sixth league match of the season. From the first whistle there was no question as to which team would win - the Ra'anana ladies, with four national squad players on court for two quarters, simply played better netball. Although they had the added disadvantage of being down two of their best players, Tel Aviv showed some great potential and we can certainly expect better competition from them in the future. The final score of the match was 46-7, giving the Ra'anana team their third successive win.

Modi'in played their first home game (the fifth league match) against Ma'aleh Adumim on Sunday 31st January. Despite the fact that Ma'aleh Adumim boasts five national squad members on their team, during the first three quarters the Modi'in players held their opponents very well and were down by only 3 goals (17-14). They were outranked however in the last quarter when the Ma'aleh Adumim ladies displayed greater speed, better skills and accurate shooting to win the match by 31-16.

In Ma'aleh Adumim on January 5th the two newest Israeli netball clubs, Ma'aleh Adumim and Tel Aviv, faced each other in the fourth league match of this season. The opening quarter surprised players, officials and spectators alike: the only goal was scored less than a minute before the end of the quarter and by the less experienced Tel Aviv team!

In the second and third quarters the Ma'aleh Adumim team played a far better game and quickly forged ahead. Considering that this was their first league match, the Tel Avivians fought back well in the final quarter but were unable to compete with the excellent shooting skills of their opponents and the game ended with a score of 35-12.  

Taking into accoung the great potential shown on-court, Israel Netball can certainly look forward to an increasing number of successes and even fiercer competition for the coveted places on the national squad in the future.

In Israel Netball's third league match of the season on December 26th, the two veteran clubs, Ra'anana and Jerusalem Mercaz, played against each other at the court in Ma'aleh Adumim. Three mother and daughter pairs participated, one playing for Ra'anana, one for Jerusalem while the third pair played on opposing teams!

Ra'anana's strong opening seven took an early lead with a score of 16-4 at the end of the first quarter. The Jerusalem team played extremely well, scoring a number of impressive goals and were able to narrow the gap somewhat in the second and third quarters. However they were not equal to the Ra'anana team who won the match by 39-12.

The second league match played on December 8th in Ma'aleh Adumim featured Jerusalem Mercaz against Jerusalem Ma'aleh Adumim - an exciting match recognising that the latter club was only officially launched in November 2009. Ma'aleh Adumim, numbering several players from the national squad, beat the older players of Jerusalem Mercaz by 34-15.

The first league match played in Ra'anana on November 28th featured Ra'anana against Modi'in - Israel's veteran club against one of Israel's newer clubs. Despite only playing netball for just over a year, the women from Modi'in displayed a high level of play and obviously have great potential. However, the more experienced Ra'anana players took the lead early on in the game and beat the Modi'in club by 41-12. The match attracted a large and vocal crowd who enjoyed the opportunity to watch some quality netball, overseen by Israel's newly-qualified umpires and volunteer scorekeepers.

   

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