Under-14 Girls South OneIpswich Bobcats U14 66 Southampton Trailblazers U14 57 Ipswich saw off a brave fight back from Southampton to win this match in the final quarter.

Under-14 Girls South One

Ipswich Bobcats U14 66 Southampton Trailblazers U14 57

Ipswich saw off a brave fight back from Southampton to win this match in the final quarter.

The south coast side arrived with only seven players, however Ipswich's squad was also thin on the ground due to sickness and injury.

The game started at a good pace, with the Ipswich making a good percentage, their fast break working well off the man-to-man defence.

Danielle Eady came off the bench to make her home debut, scoring twice, and she was followed by Beccy Dodunski.

The first quarter ended 21-10 in Ipswich's favour, with the home side looking comfortable.

Southampton immediately switched to a zone tactic at the start of the second quarter, prompting the Ipswich coaches to call a time-out.

The home team countered Southampton well for the next four minutes, with Amy Jackson hitting her first points of the season in style by sinking a three pointer.

This took the score to 28-15 to Ipswich, however, with rebounding nearly non existent, and with open shots not being made, Southampton, led by Tognarelli and Thistle, began their fight back.

Tognarelli's offensive play was arguably the best on the court and, with Ipswich failing to score for six minutes, their lead was cut to 31-26 at half time.

In the third quarter Southampton went ahead for the first time, however, Stacey Marriott and Beth Pegg, both fairly quiet in the Brentwood game the week previous, then began to find gaps on the baseline.

Tognarelli was seemingly unstoppable for the visitors until she crucially picked up her fourth foul, making her vulnerable on defence. The quarter ended with the scores tied at 47-47.

Captain Katy Merryweather, benched for most of the third quarter after three fouls, immediately made a difference on her return to the court and with Ipswich now making a rebounding presence, the hosts re-established the lead.

Danielle's useful 13 points impact came to an end as she fouled out in the sixth minute as Olivia Peters hit a baseline shot to give Ipswich some breathing space.

Coach Kathryn James said: “I was particularly pleased with Stacey's (Marriott) performance who made crucial intelligent cuts, getting behind the defence and penetrating the gaps at the end of the game.”

Due to London Towers withdrawal from the league and the re-arrangement of their Southend game, Ipswich have just one game before Christmas.

Southampton: Blandford, Thistle (cap) 21, Tognarelli 21, Cumming 2, Shore 6, Roles 4, Roles 3.

Ipswich: Peters 4, Jackson 3, Dodunski 8, Cooper, Merryweather 8, Marriott 8, Eady 13, Nolan, Pegg 14, Stubbs 8.