NETBALL: Lawn lose out to rivals at top of division (From This Is Wiltshire)

NETBALL: Lawn lose out to rivals at top of division

10:50am Thursday 11th March 2010 in

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IN Regional Division One, third-placed Lawn faced the challenging prospect of facing current second-placed Hucclecote from Gloucester.

Lawn started the game without a couple of their regular first team players and had to adjust to new combinations throughout the court.

Lawn attacked the first quarter, with the new defensive partnership of Amy Goodwin and Hayley Neate working well to turn over interceptions.

However, the very physical nature of Hucclecote’s defence proved disruptive to Lawn’s attack.

Lawn entered the final period just two goals down and determined to try to claw back the deficit, but Hucclecote’s dominance remained and they eventually won they game by eight goals.

Lawn face current league leaders, Poole Aquarians on March 21 in Bournemouth.

In Swindon Division One, the battle for the regional play-off spot hotted up at the weekend with all three title contenders winning their respective games.

Current league leaders Abbey Meads continued their exceptional season by beating Delta Blues 49-30.

Head coach Lorraine Bulpitt said: “All the hard work and dedication from the girls at training is really paying off and the results could not be better.  “I am very proud of all of my teams and I am thrilled with how well the club is progressing this season."

Abbey Meads got off to a storming start winning the first quarter 17-8 with terrific shooting from duo Emma Hunt and Jules Hewitt.  Delta Blue came out strong in the second quarter but were no match for the defensive trio of Helen Maine, Suzi Lidbury and Helen Mcgrath.  The final quarter saw excellent feeding from Sara Kershaw into the shooters and a final push from Abbey Meads saw the home side extended their lead.

Second-placed Park A took on the in form Pinehurst A and managed a 41-24 victory whilst third-placed Raychem A had a comfortable 52-17 win against Highworth B.

With only nine points separating the top three teams, and with Abbey Meads having to yet play both Park and Raychem, the league title and play-off place could come down to the very last game of the season.