South West Regional League 3 South
Taunton Vivary 46, Sydenham Gems 35

SYDENHAM Gems were beaten by 11 goals in their Regional 3 South mid-table clash away to Vivary at Taunton Vale.

The result leaves Gems in seventh place, ahead of this coming Sunday’s match away to TTNC Spartans, who are fifth.

Somerset Division 1
Sydenham Sapphires 42, Taunton Quantock 37

SAPPHIRES played Quantock from Taunton, and were faced with tough opposition from the start.

Excellent movement from Sapphire’s GA Helen Martin, working the ball into the circle with teammate Laura Coombes at WA and Carly Langdon at GS, gave Sapphires a slight lead 9-7 at the first-quarter whistle.

Quantock, however, did not roll over and, despite strong defensive play from Tilly Milburn at GD and Nic Hale at GK, they moved into the lead at 23-17.

A change of positions for the second half changed Sapphires’ approach to the game.

Kirsty Richards moved to C and Carly Martin to WD, and this combination forced Quantock to make more errors.

Justine Pearn, now playing at GS, hit some great shots and slowly brought the scoreline level with all to play for in the last five minutes.

Great teamwork from all, and encouragement from spectators, helped Sapphires continue their Premier Division promotion push.

Player of the match: Nic Hale; Umpires’ player of the match: Carly Martin. Sponsor: MediPak

Bridgwater Mercury:

TUSSLE: Sydenham Rubies’ Carly Langdon (front) battles it out with Taunton Priory’s Linda Holder. Pic: Steve Richardson

Somerset Division 2
Sydenham Rubies 54, Taunton Priory 44

SYDENHAM Rubies hosted Priory, also from Taunton, and the defence set off strongly, with GD (Kerry C) and GK (Katie I) in the circle and WD (Jess B) on form.

As the game progressed, Rubies showed great focus, gaining the lead and keeping it throughout.

The attack worked amazingly, pulling in the goals with GS (Carly L) and GA (Justine P) in the shooting circle.

C (Kirsty R) and WA (Steph) played well, both as attack and defence, to make sure Rubies kept the ball safe and in possession to see out the win by a 10-goal margin.

POM: Jess & Carly L; UPOM: Jess; Opposition’s player of the match: Steph. Sponsor: Countrywide and Ball Fire Protection

Somerset Division 3
Sydenham Emeralds 46, Taunton Brendon 37

EMERALDS played Brendon and started strongly, with well-timed interceptions from the defensive trio limiting the visiting shooters.

The centre court team of WA, C and WD had accurate passing to present the shooters with lots of chances.

During the third quarter, an injury to Brendon helped Emeralds to re-group and focus on their game.

The shooters had a brilliant last quarter, extending Emerald’s lead.

The whole team played well, with Anna Jenkin getting player of the match, and Anna and Lizzie Purchase getting the umpires’ vote.

***

Somerset Premier Division
Bridgwater Saturn 49, Taunton Tone 61

SATURN started out the first quarter well, with all players working hard to keep possession.

Despite some great shooting from Maddie Kennard (GS), Tone were able to cut out the hosts’ passes into the circle, ending the first quarter 19-9 up.

The second quarter saw some changes in the team, as Rebecca Dunn moved to WA and Aiste Mockeliunaite into C, combining well with Morganne Dunn.

In the third quarter, Saturn’s defence made some great interceptions, thanks to player of the match Emma Cocks (GK) and Lauren Cook (WD), but Saturn struggled to convert these to goals, ending the period 49-33 down.

With more chances, there were excellent drives and strong passing down the court towards goal from Ellie Schofield (WA) and Hannah Sayer (C), supported by Eve Jenner (GD).

This was Saturn’s best quarter, but Tone were consistent throughout the whole game to win 61-49.

Player of the match: Emma Cocks

Somerset Division 1
Bridgwater Neptune 22, Taunton Monmouth 63

NEPTUNE took to the court confidently against a strong Monmouth, but the visitors pulled away to win the first quarter 17-3.

In the second quarter, accurate passes from Natalie Heal (WA) and Cath Clarke (C) enabled Neptune to score more goals, but still they trailed 32-10.

During the third quarter, there were great interceptions from Katie Anthony (WD, plus tireless work from Abbie Newton (GD) and Emma Cocks (GK), the quarter ending 44-16.

Neptune then threw caution to the wind and made some unexpected positional changes, moving Abbie Newton to GS and putting Jessie Woodbury and Aiste Mockeliunaite into the defensive circle, which worked well.

POM: Abbie Newton

Somerset Division 3
Bridgwater Mars 15, Taunton Tudor 22

MARS took a little while to settle, but Jess Chee (C) passed the ball quickly down the court to Anna Belcher (WA) and Izzy Innalls (GA), who fed Sharon Ethridge (GS) as the quarter ended 5-4 to Tudor.

With Andrea Martin-Haste on at WD, the sides battled for possession, and Jazz Alexander (GD) and Ashlea Slater (GK) helped Mars stay in touch (10-8).

Mars then made a rotation in the centre court, but the Tudor defence was strong, and they extended their lead to 16-10, a lead they held onto to secure an away win.

POM: Jazz Alexander