Newcastle (Staffs) vs London Docklands
National Volleyball League Division 1
17/9/11
Keele University

After the disappointment of their play-off defeat at the hands of London Lynx in May, ‘Castle returned to NVL action determined to right the wrongs of the previous campaign. Four key players had departed over the summer to play in the Super 8s – Scott, Goodwin and Ali to Sheffield, and libero Roberts to London Malory Eagles, and coach Handford has stepped down. This resulted in senior players Dave Lovell and Will Roberts stepping up in the coaching roles and they quickly set about re-building the squad, bringing in Richard Yates, Ryan Heath and Alex Jenkins.

Much of the squad had been in Italy the previous week playing the Euro Volley Cup as the reigning under 18 men’s national champions, and these matches against top teams from across Europe had clearly stood them in good stead. 17 year old Sam Shenton raced out of the blocks early on to set the pace for ‘Castle, hitting high and hard at the net and then getting on a run of jump serves. ‘Castle led 8-3 at the first technical time-out and Docklands looked like they were still on the M6, so lethargic was their play. Jenkins had started as setter for ‘Castle and the 18 year old was soon getting into his rhythm, and opening up spaces for his wing attackers as the home team delighted the 50+ home crowd with dynamic attacking play to extend their lead to 16-8. Slowly but surely the London side, whose relegation from the top-flight had resulted in the exodus of the heart of their team, started to wake up and they closed the gap slightly to 21-15, finding gaps in the ‘Castle defence and despite a slight drop-off in their play ‘Castle won 25-19.

The home team stuck with the same starting line-up for the second set, but it was the flow of the game from the end of the first set that prevailed early on with Docklands staying in touch with ‘Castle in a scrappy phase of play. Despite being 8-5 up at the first technical time-out things were going all ‘Castle’s way and the London side’s block began to function more effectively, with both Bradbury and Shenton suffering shut-outs. The scrappy nature of the game persisted throughout and although ‘Castle were showing their quality when in control of the ball, the young team were not quite on their game. Bradbury continued to pass excellently and Yates started to come into his own, peppering the Docklands libero with powerful line shots time and again. Although never under pressure (leading 16-14 and 21-17), the set remained close to the end with ‘Castle winning out 25-22.

Setter Sam Allen, who had been introduced to the court towards the end of the second set, started the third, as did Stew Ross in place of fellow 17 year old Iain McKellar – whose own performance had been exemplary with five points from five attacks, and strong jump serving. The passing unit of Shenton, Bradbury and Heath remained relatively untroubled by Docklands’ up and down serving which gave ‘Castle 11 points in the match purely through errors. Allen settled quickly into the action and ‘Castle were quickly 8-4 up. A sharp middle attack from Roberts appeared to increase his confidence and he returned immediately to the service line. This serving run took ‘Castle past the second technical time-out at 16-8, which was then increased further. A great defensive rally inspired ‘Castle’s players and supporters alike and the lead raced to 21-12 before the team closed the match out 25-14 for a comfortable straight sets win.

Squad:
Allen, Bradbury, Heath, Jenkins, Lovell, McKellar, Nafioglu, Roberts, Ross, Saward, Shenton, Yates