Birmingham displayed a thoroughly dominant performance to take a victory in their last game of BUCS season, beating Manchester 1’s 72- 29.
With the Lionesses entering the game already crowned as the Champions of the Premier North BUCS division, they were determined to illustrate why they were in crown position.
The home side were boosted by welcoming back Fran Williams into the squad. She had been away on international duties making her debut for the England Roses against Uganda and taking to the court in England’s impressive win against Australia.
The first quarter set the tone for the match: UoB took a 11 point lead against a Manchester side who did not seem to settle on court the same way Birmingham did. The shooting from Kat Short in GS and GA, Helen Carter-Roberts was incredibly accurate, and something that Manchester failed to match. It quickly emerged that Manchester could not keep up with Birmingham’s finest talent on court who’s energy, passing, and clinical movements surpassed Manchester’s, enabling them to take a strong lead in the second quarter, which ended at 34 – 16 to Birmingham.
With the game progressing into the second half, mistakes prevailed for Manchester as their passing became careless due to dripping energy. Taking full advantage, Birmingham became even more vocal and energised as a team. These faults from Manchester paved the way for UoB to extend their lead, capitalising on each dropped ball or missed shot, with credit going to GK Maddie Munro Hall, who won Woman of the Match, who was excellent at picking rebounds and limiting Manchester’s movement in their shooting circle. The end of third quarter once again showed that Birmingham were just too strong for Manchester, as they took the score to 51 – 23.
In the final quarter, a change from Birmingham to move Ellie Rattu to centre was clearly a very positive one, as she made a tremendous impact on court as she flew down the line and made clear space around her to help fluidity down court. Her ability was aided by great facilitating play from attack and defenders which rounded off a great game for Birmingham, with the final score of 72 – 29.
Ultimately, as their final game of BUCS rounds, Birmingham showed immense talent, energy and passion to come out victorious as they continuously flourished on court whilst outplayingManchester in all departments.
