Premier Division

Fitzmaurice A 35 Malmesbury 53

The pace of the match took off right from the first whistle with quick, efficient passing and goal scoring from both teams. Accurate passes into the Fitz circle and some consistent shooting from their attack saw the first quarter end 9-9.

The second quarter carried on in the same vein with both teams really fighting to take the lead. Despite the hard work of the Fitz defence, the Malmesbury shooters rarely missed and the second quarter ened with Malmesbury ahead 21-16.

A switch around of the centre court players saw Fitz produce another fine quarter scoring off virtually every centre pass. The Fitz shooters played a solid quarter converting all opportunities into goals. At the end of the third quarter Malmesbury were defending a narrow lead 33-27.

The final quarter saw the Malmesbury team step up a gear and despite great efforts from the whole Fitz team Malmesbury dominated the final quarter. Fitz battled to the final whistle and were disappointed to lose the game by 18 goals.

The final score failed to reflect the more even play during the whole match.

Fitz player of the match Laura Radwell deserved her award for consistently good play throughout.

An enjoyable, friendly, competitive match with Fitz looking forward to the return match.

Division 1

Chippenham B 24 Melksham CATS 26

The first match of the Moonraker League fir these 2 teams saw an evenly matched game. Chippenham went out strongly from the whistle and were 4-0 ahead within 5 minutes. The Chippenham team, and in paryicular the WA, played a good attacking game throughout. Melksham played steadily and brought the score back to 5-5 at the end of the first quarter.

Strong court play between Ruth Beaven, returning after 15 months off, jane Andrew and Gemma Ball consolidated Melksham's attack resulting in them gaining the lead 11-9 by half-time.

In the third quarter Melksham forged ahead, ending with a 22-14 lead.

A change in positions for Chippenham for the final quarter saw Melksham's lead reduced as their opponents increased the pace and reduced the lead. An injury to Melksham's GD, and with no reserve, resulted in them having to draw all resources into defence. The last few minutes were nail-biting with the accuracy of the Chippenham shooters reducing the deficite to 2 goals. With some excellent shooting from Tracey Hanman and Gemma Ball, Melksham held on to win the match.

Devizes B 34 Wessex Blades 14

Devizes quickly settled into their game with a wonderful display of open flowing netball, pulling ahead by a considerable amount by the end of the first quarter.

Centre court players Kit Dillon, Lucy Baross, Sam Lee and Aimee Williams worked extremely well together, getting the ball up the court, into the circle creating excellent shooting opportunities. They worked hard to make the game flow and their speed often gained them the chance for some great feeds into the circle.

By half-time Devizes were sitting on a big lead with great shooting from Charity Nichols and Player of the match Hannah Butcher.

Defenders Jo Harris and Vicki Wilkinson, too, were having a brilliant match. Their defensive work put pressure on the Blades shooters, allowing Devizes defence plenty of interceptions and the opportunity to turn defence into attack.

In the second half of the match Blades play improved dramatically putting Devizes under some pressure. But they replied by working harder. Even with a slight dip in play Devizes maintained their form and recorded their second convincing win of the season.

Combe Down 48 Melksham CATS 28

Melksham started the match firing on all cylinders and were 2-0 up very early on as Combe took their time settling in. Once settled Combe fought back strongly to overpower the Melksham side and lead 15-6 at quarter time.

The second quarter saw some inspirational long range shooting by GS Jodie Annely and GA Bev Pulford, and quick moving and passing around the circle by C Teresa Simmons and WA Heather Matthews which all help to extend the lead to 26-13.

Melksham made team changes for the second half of the match which initially strengthened their game. But tight centre court marking from Combe players C Jo Maxwell, WD Dani Markovitch and GD Donna Bradshaw allowed the team to continue to pull away to lead 35-19.

Combe then changed things around for the final quarter but to no avail for Melksham as the defence (including GK Alison Davies) in the shooting circle was as tight as ever. Melksham scored 9 goals that quarter against the 13 of Combe resulting in a convincing win for the hosts.

Corsham 30 Holt B 36

A close match with Holt just edging Corsham with their tight marking and great shooting. Only the second match for Corsham in Dvision 1 after gaining promotion from Division 2 last season.

Corsham fought tirelessly to the end with some great shooting from GS Hazel Cousins and GA Ellen Wilson. This was a great game for GD Alice Ryan-Laws who won player of the match for her effort. A good performance by all but in the end the experience and good play by Holt B won through.

Division 2

Devizes C 21 Calne B 33

Calne started well, scoring 3 quick goals but Devizes levelled the score soon after. Consistent shooting from the Devizes pair - Caroline Box and Amy Langan - kept Devizes in the game.

In the second quarter Devizes struggled to cope with the pace of Calne and errors crept into their game.

After half-time Devizes started confidently and matched Calne's game. Devizes defenders Beth Mortimer, Michelle Kidd and Stef Edwards coped very well with the outstanding Calne attack, in particular the shooters who rarely missed a shot.

Devizes centre court players Penny Hinton, Gemma Blake and Bryony Hutchings completed some great passages of play which enabled kept the Calne defence busy. Unfortunately Calne proved to be too strong and Devizes just missed out on a bonus point. But the side are already looking forward to the next match.

Fitzmaurice B 42 Malmesbury 26

The match was evenly contested in the first quarter with Fitz pulling ahead by a couple of goals only for Malmesbury to come back at them.

As the match progressed Fitz became the dominant side. C Lindy Gains proved to be an asset to Fitz with her quick movement about the court and flexibility at swapping from defence to attack and back again. This enabled Fitz to have plenty of possession resulting in the attack taking full advantage with their accurate shooting - rarely missing a shot, especially from Player of the match GA Gemma Hatter. Going into the final quarter the Fitz team had to swap around losing their C. Malmesbury took advantage and started to pull back a few goals but excellent interceptions from Fitz defenders Amy Wring and Hayley Potter enabled the team to keep ahead and win the match.

Division 3

Wessex Blades 24 Devizes D 19

Blades got off to a good start against Devizes with shooters Katie and Stacey scoring 6 goals, Devizes replying with 4. Blades second quarter was every bit as good as the first and they lead at the end 12-7. During this time Devizes rallied with a good spell of play but failed to make in-roads to the Blades lead.

Half-time saw changes to the Blades line-up which made a slight difference but not enough that Devizes could take advantage of. Both sides produced spells of consistent play but the difference between the scores remained the same. Annette at GK for the Blades produced some lovely defensive work blocking the Devizes attempts at goal. Blades were very pleased with the final score of 24-19 giving them an excellent start to the season.

Devizes C 27 Holt 15

It was another slow start for Devizes C as they let Holt score 3 early goals, but they managed to get the 3 goals back and went into the lead. Towards the end of the first quarter, Devizes were playing some great netball from the defence, right through the attack and on to the shooters.

The momentum was with Devizes in the second quarter and some outstanding shooting from Amy Langan and Caroline Box enabled Devizes to build a good lead. The Devizes defence of Trish Stephenson, Stef Edwards, Michelle Kidd and Beth Mortimer troubled Holt and Devizes used the chances of Holt's mistakes.

After half time however, Holt played some good netball and managed to claw back within 6 or 7 goals of Devizes.

Gemma Blake and Bryony Hutchings as centre court players brought the team together and managed to influence some shooting opportunities. Eventually, Devizes got back into their stride and the fourth quarter was all theirs.

It was a fantastic match with great all-round play from everyone. Bring on the next match!

A special well done to Michelle Kidd who won player-of-the-match for Devizes.