Brentwood Estonians vs Newcastle (Staffs)
National Volleyball League Division 1
8/10/11
Sawyers College
Brentwood Estonians 0 - 3 Newcastle (Staffs)
22-25, 18-25, 19-25
'Castle travelled down to Brentwood in Essex for their third successive away game in NVL1, and looking to make it another straight sets win in what has so far been a perfect start to the season. It was a tough week of preparation for 'Castle with no fewer than four players missing crucial training sessions, and three of the squad of eleven travelling on the day were carrying injuries that would have to be nursed through the match. Despite an hour long queue on the M11 the team arrived at the venue in good time, which gave them a great opportunity to acclimatise to the low roof, concrete floor and chilling temperatures.
After their win at home against London Docklands on the opening day, the coach of the opponents , Danny Primus made the comment that although the young team has great talent, their true test in the league season would come when they travelled to a difficult venue and played against a home time that would try to break them psychologically. Well, this match at Brentwood gave them that challenge both with the comments through the net and from a particularly vociferous section of the crowd - and the 'Castle lads thrived on it! The first set was scrappy for large periods, Brentwood's flexible attacking options initially disrupting 'Castle but they had shown their hand by the end of the first time around the rotations which meant the visitors' block and defence set-up could be adjusted to overcome it. A particularly pleasing aspect of the set for 'Castle was Allen's use of the back-row attack - primarily through Shenton who blasted three quick 'pipe' attacks past the Brentwood defence. Bradbury and Yates were also getting in on the act but it was Shenton again from the service line who took the game beyond the Essex side. However, as 'Castle had been told to expect by Lovell and Roberts the host would not lie down without a fight and they cut 4 points off the 'Castle lead at the end of the set, but 'Castle held on to take it 25-22.
The second set started slowly for 'Castle as Shenton made consecutive errors, firstly hitting long and then massively overcompensating by hitting into the middle of the net. The handling of the Brentwood setter Fenech had been questionable throughout the first set and the referee noticeably raised his expectations of the handling at the start of the second set, calling him three times in quick succession, which understandably rattled Brentwood and 'Castle took advantage. 17 year old Stew Ross was blocking well in the middle for 'Castle and starting to get control of the Brenwood middle attacks which were deliberately set into the set, almost into 'Castle's own air space. The referees were feeling pressure from both sides, and when Roberts clearly picked up from his own block with his foot the ref blew to say the ball was down instantaneously, only to then be corrected by his second official. Brentwood's players took this decision really badly and as per the pattern of the game Fenech complained to the referee vociferously and then made an error himself the next point to compound his frustration. The home crowd were getting at both Yates and Shenton, who struggled to respond, leading to the introduction of Saward who did a superb job in the passing unit. Jenkins was then introduced from the service line and did the job to perfection drilling the Brentwood passers Groj and Warren to take the set in 'Castle's favour 25-18.
Perhaps thinking the hard work was done 'Castle started poorly in the third set. Allen served just out, trying to put just too much on his serve and then Shenton who had been so dominant from the line earlier in the game made his third successive serve error. The overall 'Castle performanced had become quite lazy and players in all roles were making silly errors in all phases of play in an apparent loss of concentration. Brentwood led 8-4 at the first techincal and then 16-14 at the second as an inroads 'Castle made were quickly undone. Straight out of the time-out Shenton's spike drilled the top of the block and looped over the defence for a point to 'Castle, only for the officials to miss the touch. This was a crucial point, and a potential opportunity for the youngsters to buckle especially with the heckling crowd sat just a few metres away. The Brentwood serve went deep and Heath shanked it up the wall, the pressure was on at 18-14 down. Lovell called time-out and from that point 'Castle simply grabbed the set. Shenton killed the ball for 15-18 and then Roberts went on a serving run in which time the 'Castle players fought for everything - with Yates in particular throwing himself around the court. Brentwood were on the ropes and the score went to 21-18 to 'Castle, a run only ended when Warren hit hard into Allen's hands and caused a potential problem for the 'Castle setter. He responded well through and cheekily won a second touch attack on the very next point to go 22-19. The final three points were all Brentwood errors and 'Castle took the game 3-0.
Squad:
Allen, Bradbury, Heath, Jenkins, Lovell, McKellar, Roberts, Ross, Saward, Shenton, Yates
