NETBALL: Emeralds outshone as Monmouth ease to victory

EMERALDS battled hard, but could not prevent a 53-30 defeat to Monmouth, from Taunton.

In the first quarter Emeralds settled in nicely with Michelle Parr and Steph Riordan working well in the shooting circle.

The second quarter carried on well with Michelle Martin, Amy Edmundson and Kerry Clark feeding the ball well from defence to attack.

The defence were working hard to keep possession with Megan Buller and Rheanne Lee keeping strong.

Unfortunately, in the last quarter Monmouth pulled away and made it hard for Emeralds, but everyone gave 100% to ensure that Emeralds gained a valuable point.

The game finished 30-53 to Monmouth. Amy, Rheanne and Megan were voted players of the match.

Saturn 35, Hovelands 54

SATURN failed to capitalise on a number of errors from their opposition as they went down by 19 points to Hovelands.

With some strong defending and accurate passing down the court to the shooters, Saturn kept Hovelands within four finishing the first quarter 11 goals to Hovelands 15.

The second quarter, with a swap around in defence, saw Sally Haysham (GK) make important tips to limit Hovelands’ scoreline.

Unfortunately, Saturn could not capitalise on Hovelands’ errors and finished the second quarter trailing 19-27.

With some changes made in the centre court, Saturn came out with renewed energy – passing errors were mostly to blame for this quarter and Saturn started to struggle against Hovelands’ defending and accurate shooting.

Accurate shooting from Katy Cheese (GA) helped to increase the Saturn scoreline, but it was not enough to take the win.

Neptune 44, Claremont 60

NEPTUNE, with a new line-up, made a positive start with great shooting from Sarah Perry (GA) and Lianne Fothergill (GS).

Going into the second quarter, changes were made which proved effective for Neptune, but the pace of the Claremont team was hard to keep at bay and at half-time they led 32-23.

The third quarter saw impressive interceptions from the Neptune defence of Saskia Middleton (GK) and Bex Dunn (GD).

One last push was given to try to gain a point, and due to the steady passing of centre court players Lily Rowland (C), Mattie Williams (WA), Hollie Cornish (WD) they succeeded.

Venus 34, Parkfield 44

VENUS were pipped by a strong Parkfield side on Saturday.

With accurate shooting and great movement around the attacking circle from Sarah Perry and Mattie Williams, Venus were even at the break.

Some strong play by centre court players Elaine Bartlett, Lily Rowland andAlisha Gardener allowed Venus to keep the gap tight.

Changes made in the third quarter saw Hollie Cornish come on at WA.

Persistent play in the circle from Saskia Middleton (GD) and Coleen Bartlett (GK) made it difficult for the opposition to ever feel comfortable.

Unfortunately for Venus, Parkfield managed to hold on in the final quarter.

Mars 25, Hendford 65

MARS slipped to a heavy defeat at the hands of Hendford on Saturday.

Mars started the game with confidence with Elaine Bartlett accurately feeding into the circle and great defending by Alisha Gardener.

This helped the Mars shooters to settle and finish the first quarter six goals to 13.

In the second quarter, a change to the Mars line-up, due to injury, saw them struggle to keep the Hendford shooters out of the circle, who were then able to pull further ahead, finishing at half-time trailing 13 goals to 30.

Great defending from Emily Harwood (GK), Hana Middleton (GD) and Chloe Trout (WD) helped to restrict Hendford’s shooters from scoring consistently, but in the final quarter, despite valiant attempts by Sophie Cornish (GS) and Morganne Dunn (GA), space was hard to find against Hendford’s sturdy defence and Mars struggled to increase their scoreline.

Mercury 33, Queensway 41

MERCURY started their game well with Olivia Shorthouse delivering the ball accurately to Norah Lewis.

In the second quarter, Chloe Trout made some important interceptions to keep Mercury close to Queensway.

Accurate passing by WA Aerin Phillips into the circle allowed shooters GA Morganne Dunn and GS Cerys Ethridge to keep Mercury in contention, taking them into the final quarter with everything to play for.

Great interceptions in the circle from Lucy Brown (GK) and player of the match Victoria Saban (GD) in the final quarter, with assistance from WD Lucy Kyte, allowed the ball to be passed safely down the court, keeping Mercury within touching distance of the Queensway scoreline, but Queensway held on and Mercury finished the game trailing 33 goals to 41.