Corsham cut to pieces by Blades

4:50pm Saturday 25th October 2008

Wessex Blades made a nervous start to their game against Corsham and this showed in the first ten minutes as, although dominant, they did not take advantage of all their opportunities and needed to focus more on player positioning, accuracy of passes and the timing of their moves.

However as the quarter progressed the attacking combination of Kara Clarke, Shelley Cornicks, Rebecca Lewis and Sharon Loader began to perform more consistently resulting in Blades taking a 9-4 lead.

The Wessex Blades defence, consisting of Carolynn Blackburn, Kelly Hearn and Kiah Rance ensured the team maintained a lead of 16-11 by half time.

In the third quarter everyone picked up their rate of play and this effort made the difference and allowed Blades to stretch their lead to 27-18.

To prevent the players from tiring in the final quarter the coach, Jane Tomkinson, made her final positional adjustments and Blades remained fresh and energetic on court, resulting in a convincing win of 35-23.

Player of the match went to Kelly Hearn, who, in spite of a considerable height disadvantage, won many interceptions, rebounds and contests within the defending circle.

Division Three

Kennet Valley 12, Devizes Jax 22

THIS was the first match of the season for the two youngest teams in the League.

The Jax produced some very good netball, working well together throughout the match, and with plenty of shooting opportunities recorded their first win of the season.

Devizes D 28, Wessex Blades 32

DEVIZES D made a fantastic start and were eight up before Blades replied, thanks to the solid defence of Trish Stephenson and Alanna Fraser.

Caroline Box and Steph Bridewell combined well in the circle and Devizes continued to pile on the pressure.

Centre court players Liddy Brown, Penny Hinton, Bryony Hutchings, Emily Giles and Imogen Painter worked tirelessly throughout and at the end of the third quarter Devizes lead 25-16.

Team changes to both sides for the final quarter resulted in a fighting comeback from the Blades. Devizes let the game slip and as a result, lost by four.

Division Two

Chippenham C 24, Holt 22

A CHALLENGING, competitive match between these two teams resulted in a narrow win for Chippenham.

The scores were close throughout , with the scores level going into the final quarter but Chippenham managed to gain a slight lead and never let up.

Player of the match for Chippenham was Debbie Boycott.

Premier Division

Devizes A 46, Holt 16

BOTH teams started well, with Devizes only two goals ahead by the end of the first quarter.

Tactical changes to the team gave Devizes the edge for the rest of the match. New squad member Becky Heywood made her debut, displaying excellent defensive skills to restrict Holt’s scoring opportunities.

Clare Robinson, Gemma Featonby and Vicki Josey completed the defence and all produced some brilliant turn overs.

Centre court players Kit Dillon and Claire Sartin and Becki Gaiger and Caroline Oram, who was the player of match, showed great team work, against a very strong Holt defence, to get the ball into the circle and make the most of their opportunities.

Devizes B 20, Westbury 25

A SLOW and quiet start resulted in Devizes being 2-11 down at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter showed a gutsy and determined Devizes intent on repairing the damage. More on court communication, accurate ball work and improved shooting resulted in Devizes losing that quarter by only one goal.

Team changes at half-time gave Devizes the edge in both quarters. Superb interceptions in defence by Kirsti Procter and Debbie Pearce were key to the turn round.

The Westbury defence caused problems throughout the match but continued quality passing, accurate shooting plus total team commitment gave Devizes the second half. They were able to close the score to within five goals to give themselves a richly deserved point.

Devizes player of the match was Lucy Baross.

Combe Down 28, Chippenham A 24

AFTER a very close start and some great attacking from both sides, Sian Robbins and Jodie Annely worked the circle very well with great feeds from, player of match Teresa Simons and Leanne Dingle as Combe led 6-4 at the end of the first quarter.

Chippenham came fighting back in the second quarter, producing really accurate shooting to level at 12-12 at half-time.

The third quarter brought Combe fighting back to edge slightly ahead. The defence was flawless with some great interceptions from Julia Padfield. Jane Hannon showed some great team spirit and worked very well with Donna Bradshaw. Combe increased their lead to 22-18.

The final quarter was still a close match but both teams were tiring. Combe held onto their four goal lead to win a very enjoyable match.

Melksham 30, Bradford B 32

MELKSHAM knew this was going to be a hard match. With three of their regular players out and three new players in it was going to take a while for the team to settle.

The new shooting partnership of Tracey Hanman and Krystal worked well and Melksham led 9-5 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw Bradford get to grips with the game and start to take control although Melksham, but with the defensive pair of Steph Grant and Holly Scafer working hard, they managed to maintain the lead at half- time.

In the third quarter Melksham had a change of positions and this was their undoing as Bradford made the most of this advantage - catching up and taking the lead in excellent fashion. Bradford’s young team showed experience across the court which belied their ages and it looked, at the end of the quarter, as if they had the game in the bag.

At one point Bradford were 9 goals ahead however Melksham managed to pull back to within two goals of Bradford and therefore gain a point.