LAST Saturday, January 14 saw five Taunton Netball Club teams take to the court.

Second-placed Tone, sponsored by Ian Hunt Builders, played sixth-placed Galmington’s Parkfield in the first division, winning 50-22.

Despite Tone struggling to settle in the first quarter, their play not flowing as it usually does, they still managed to lead 6-3 at the end of it.

During the second quarter Tone played really strong, fluid netball with both attack and defence linking well, and this resulted in a half-time lead of 21-8.

Determined to maintain this strong lead, Tone’s defence made many excellent interceptions, turning over possession and quickly converting that into goals for an extended advantage of 36-18.

Tone then made the most of every opportunity during the final quarter to secure their win by an impressive scoreline.

Player of the match (POM): Amy Lewis. Squad: GS Vicki Cornish, GA Amy Lewis, WA Freya Bryant, C D’Arcy Rowlands, WD Kim May, GD Nicole Smith, GK Lucy Monk.

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TENTH-PLACED Monmouth, sponsored by Granite Transformations, played fifth-placed Yeovil’s Wyndham in the first division, and defeated their higher-positioned opponents 36-27.

Monmouth started with a very strong first quarter on a windy day, their shooters coping much better with the turbulent conditions than their Wyndham counterparts.

Their accuracy enabled them to pull away and finish the quarter with a 12-5 lead.

The second quarter started in the same vein until Wyndham had a good run, getting themselves back into the game (20-15).

It was important for Monmouth to keep their heads in the third quarter so they played steadily, working to keep possession and keeping their noses in front (25-21).

Monmouth reasserted their authority on the game in the final quarter to register an excellent win.

POM: Helen Lucas. Squad: GS Helen Lucas, GA Leila Aladin, WA Rachel Morgan, C Clara Higginson, WD Andrea Dobson, GD Amy Toole, GK Melissa Cleverly.

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QUANTOCK, sponsored by Mecca Bingo, travelled to play fifth-placed Wells’ Bishops in the second division, losing a tight game 28-27.

Quantock, who were third in the table heading into the match, had a challenging and low-scoring first quarter which ended with them trailing 6-3.

Bishops displayed a strong second quarter in their attacking third (17-9), but Quantock came back fighting in the third quarter.

With strong defence from the whole team, they capitalised on turnovers and started to eat into Bishops’ lead, so they were only 21-17 behind.

Quantock kept up that intensity and played their best netball in a tense final quarter, taking the score to a tie in the final minutes, but Bishops maintained their composure to win the game by just one goal.

POMs: Kim Radford and Iona Stokes. Squad: GS Maisie Reynolds, GA Charlotte Denman, WA Kate Durbin, C Kim Radford, WD Siobhan Cleverly, GD Iona Stokes, GK Linda Holder.

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Somerset County Gazette:

VICTORIOUS: Taunton Netball Club's Blackdown.

ALSO on Saturday, third-placed Blackdown, sponsored by Mortgage Select, played fourth-placed Yeovil’s Aldon in the third division, and they came out victorious by a 38-30 scoreline.

Blackdown started well, linking well in the centre court to take an early lead (11-9).

The defence worked hard during the second quarter to support the centre court players and pull ahead slightly more to 23-16.

Blackdown continued to build on their advantage, ending the third quarter 33-24 ahead.

Blackdown continued to work the ball around, maintaining their lead despite Aldon’s best efforts, and so they claimed an important victory.

POM: Faye Symons. Squad: GS Felicity Lukacs, GA Maddie Borer, WA Kate Stubbins, C Faye Symons, WD Sarah Hughes, GD Holly Morse, GK Helen Cleverly, sub Lauren Wilkinson.

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TUDOR, sitting in third, travelled to play fifth-placed Wells’ Canons in the fourth division, and were beaten 33-20.

Tudor expected a challenging game from Canons, and they found themselves trailing 6-1 after the first five minutes.

It was an early disadvantage that Tudor would find it difficult to recover from, as the away side went on to trail 12-5 at the end of the first quarter.

Tudor improved during each quarter, as they began to get the measure of their opposition, but still they were behind 19-9 at the halfway stage.

Tudor struggled against the experienced Canons players during the third quarter (28-14).

However, they stayed strong to the end, winning the final quarter with a last-minute goal.

POM: Louise Frost. Squad: GS Emma Burns, GA Sophie Bond, WA Mel Reynolds, C Louise Frost, WD Trish Hutchinson, GD Verity Stone, GK Laura Shepherd, sub Rhonda Robins.