Northumbria buoyed by Semple

The Kiwi caught up with Northumbria after the game:

Team Northumbria return to Netball Superleague action later this month buoyed by the addition of goal attack Chiara Semple.

With her international clearance finally resolved, the New Zealander put in an impressive performance on her debut in front of a packed Sport Central crowd on Monday night.

And with a trip to Team Bath next up for TN, the sharp-shooting Kiwi took plenty of positives from a tough clash against title contenders Hertfordshire Mavericks.

“I think our first half went really well but in the second half we just let them get a roll on us,” said Semple.

“Next time we just need to focus on playing the full game so that we can really test teams like Mavericks. And we need to adjust to the on-court changes especially in terms of our physicality.”

Semple led the attack with another recent arrival Lynsey Armitage, as they showed some promising team work around the opposition net.

“I think I did some of my job right but I just need to make sure I remain consistent when shooting,” Semple added. “I just need to keep up my defensive levels and then obviously continue working on my match fitness.”

Adjusting to life on Tyneside has so far proved both a challenging and exciting experience, but is something the Kiwi is looking forward to further in the future.

Semple said: “I’m so excited to be here.

“As soon as I knew I could play against Mavericks I rang my parents back in New Zealand who went straight on Twitter at 7am so that they could get all the updates!

“Obviously being away from family has been hard but I now know so many of the girls’ families who have taken to me really well.

“Te, the coach, is also like my mum over here and does everything she can for me outside of the game.

“But Newcastle is a great place for me to be as a player and I’m really looking forward to my future here.”

Photo credit: Ben Hutchinson.

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