Champs v The Rest
In their warm up to Uptons in Guernsey this weekend, Dominion Winter Netball division winners cam up against scratch teams made up of the very best of the rest of the division and with lots of players stuck in a various countries. Some teams were forced to play below their full strengths. Division 3 saw Accies, slow to start in the first quarter, and only one ahead by half time but picking up the pace in the third quarter to fly six goals ahead, then building on that for a fantastic 12 goal lead at the end. Great work around the circle from Liz Olim and Sophie Le Bon benefited this winning team.
In Division 2, St Lawrence C had a very close match up to half time when both teams were equal. Then half time struck and they just couldn't hang on, slipping to an 8 goal defeat, with the Rest team winning 26 to 18.
First division winners St Clement came out with all guns blazing, beaten The Rest team 15 - 9 in the first quarter. And although they decreased goal count with each quarter - that early lead meant they had goals to spare and ended the game on a high with a 53 - 48 win over The Rest.
Uptons
What a day! 3 teams go out... 3 Trophies come home!
We took some of the Jersey sunshine over the water to Guernsey and watched a trio of fabulous Jersey netball.
All three teams had convincing wins - div 2 St Lawrence having the closest and possibly hardest task, with their opponents trailing by a few goals throughout. Never-the-less they held their own and stayed ahead to the end. Accies and St Clement both played teams from club Nerine - and neither had to worry as they just could not match the Jersey sides.
Accies flew ahead to a 12 - 3 finish in the first quarter, giving themselves that early bank of goals to fall back on. As the game continued it was obvious they never needed to cash them in. That fab shooting pair - GS Liz Olim, GA Sophie Le Bon that worked so well in Champs v The Rest - brought it on here too. Passing in and out frequently to C Rachel Crick and WA Lizzie Painter around the circle to get them in good position to shoot - fantastic! A few changes in line up in the second quarter brought Sophie Buist to WA with Lizzie moving to Centre. In defence GK Diane Nield brought experience to the side and worked tirelessly in the circle with defence GD Nikki Quenault and WD Karen Cabot partnering well to intercept and return the ball to their attack. Second quarter saw Taryn Queree bring fresh legs to GD, and Sophie Buist to WA. Then in the third Zoe Cabot came on to end the game at GA. A brilliant team effort with all players keeping a strong side to bring the third division trophy back to Jersey.
Division Two - The closest of the three games saw both teams get off to a slow start. Although dropping one goal behind at the end of the first - Jersey had the better start - first to score and building while Hawks took a while then raced into the lead in the last minutes. The second quarter was pretty even. Almost goal for goal - St Lawrence early line up of GS Pearl Rabet and GA Suzanne Follain had a lot to contend with in the circle - Hawks defence were tall, useful players who intercepted and blocked the smaller St Lawrence attack very well. WA Freya Moss, C Lindsey Paton and WD Lucy Le Lievre kept their heads and worked a good triangle in centre court. Hawks were a tall team from Defence across to attack, but St Lawrence defence worked hard to intercept and turn the game around. GD Ella Martyn and GK Jill Luce made great interceptions and bonded well to keep the ball out of their circle. Changes were made throughout in centre court and attack, bringing the whole squad in to play and in the third quarter they eventually broke the Hawks lead and went three goals ahead. Into the last quarter St Lawrence was just all about controlling the court - first to score in this quarter - they answered with another goal each time Hawks scored. Keeping them ahead and even sneaking an extra one in to end the game four goals ahead. Praising their opponents for a fabulous game, St Lawrence accepted the trophy with sheer delight.
With two games in the bag - the heat was on for St Clement v Nerine A.
But what was the fuss about - St Clement came into the first, allowed Nerine one goal to tease them and then went on to score 7 before Nerine got another taste of a goal. St Clement continued their dominance to the end of the first, finishing 10 goals ahead with Nerine needing drastic measures to break their play. By half time St Clement were 15 ahead.... and so the game continued. The ever-watching and waiting GK Sharon West used her fantastic foresight to put on a display of magical interceptions to snatch the game away from Nerine on several occasions, linking well with sub GD Julia Quant and WD Natalie Rodden - with speedy centre court action from the young C Natalie Hellio - the ball was swiftly passed to captain WA Jenna Meredith - was always in command and well positioned to take the ball to the phenomenal shooting duo of GA Emma Carré and GS Zoe Hotton. St Clements totally dominated throughout, allowing Nerine only 4 goals in the first three quarters and a softening to give six away to them in the last quarter. A fantastic win, 43 - 9 in the final and a great display of the standard of netball talent that is coming out of Jersey today!
Report by Tricia Barrett