Regional League 3
South Gems 49, Bodmin 46

SYDENHAM Gems met Bodmin for the first time this season on Sunday.

Gems made a great start, with fast play and strong feeds into the shooters, who were able to maximise their opportunities, finishing the first quarter with a 10-goal lead.

Bodmin came back fighting in the second and third quarters, bringing it level and then taking the lead.

But Gems took to the final quarter with renewed fight, turning over the play with excellent defending by Kerry and Beth.

Excellent shooting by Justine and Hanna saw Gems come back from two goals behind to win the match 49-46.

Player of the match: Justine Pearn; umpires' player of the match & opposition's player of the match: Beth Fella; sponsor: Medipak

Somerset Premier Division
Sapphires 56, Monmouth 39

SAPPHIRES started their match excellently against Taunton’s Monmouth.

The Sydenham team defended hard against the opposition, with Emily Rossiter (GD) and Sue Bushnell (GK) turning over lots of passes.

Sapphires were able to capitalise on this with accurate shooting from Tilly Milburn (GA) and Nic Hale (GS), which saw Sapphires take the lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second saw Sapphires make some changes, and great centre court play from Katie Hill (WA), Laura Coombes (C) and Carly Martin (WD) helped bring the ball down to the attacking circle, as they went from strength to strength.

POM: Laura Coombes & Carly Martin; OPOM & UPOM: Laura Coombes

Somerset Division 1
Rubies 33, Quantock 48

RUBIES started strongly, taking a 10-9 lead, but Quantock fought back in the second quarter to move ahead.

Defensive pressure kept Rubies in the game, 25-18 behind, but then the gap between the teams increased, though Rubies’ determination remained.

Finally, in the last quarter, Rubies started to struggle to keep up the fight, but didn’t give up, and still applied lots of pressure to Quantock.

The team’s effort and gameplay didn’t reflect the final scoreline.

POM & UPOM: Lilly Paul; OPOM: Tanisha Birch; sponsor: Medipak

Somerset Division 2
Emeralds 22, Newbarn 52

EMERALDS faced a tough start to their game against the more experienced Newbarn, who were fast and accurate.

The second quarter saw Emeralds increase their score by six, with Holly Davies and Charlie Webb making some great interceptions.

However, Newbarn were on fine form and, despite Emeralds’ best efforts and increasing high winds, the score at half time was 27-9 to Newbarn.

Emeralds came fighting back in the third quarter with strong defence from Angel Finka and Danielle at GK, and accurate fast passes between Hannah Wallis, Davies and Webb.

Despite fine shooting from Rhiannon Crabtree and Lucie Colloff and excellent teamwork from all of Emeralds, Newbarn proved too good to beat.

POM: Hollie Davies; OPOM: Rhiannon Crabtree

***

Regional 3 South
Cornwall Storm 91, Jupiter 32

BRIDGWATER Jupiter had a road trip to Truro and suffered a minibus which wanted to stop, injury in the warm-up and missing kit.

Using the six remaining players and sub Amy Miller, Jupiter took to the court with everything crossed for luck.

Storm gained a significant lead in the first quarter, 28-6, but Emma Reynolds and Julie McClean upped their scoring before going into the final quarter trailing 67-22.

Despite the strong defence of Eve Jenner (GK) and Sally Haysham (GD), Storm sealed a comfortable win.

Player of the match: Emma Reynolds; opposition’s POM: Emma Reynolds, Kia Jenner & Maddie Kennard; sponsor: Associated Roofing & Maintenance Ltd

Somerset Premier Division
Wells Swans 38, Saturn 34

SATURN started slowly, and missed shots allowed Swans to capitalise and take a 14-8 lead after the first quarter.

They regrouped and stayed in touch, with Abbie Newton and Lisa Luckins on song.

But Swans stayed in front through to the final quarter, despite composed shooting by Becky Hooper.

Saturn couldn’t pull back the deficit from the first quarter, but it was a fabulous rally late on, with a deserved extra point for scoring within five.

POM & OPOM: Lisa Lukins; sponsor: PAW Engineering Ltd

Somerset Division 2
Venus 46, Wells Canons 12

VENUS started on the front foot with Cerys Ethridge (GA) and Hazel Hucker (GS) enabling a good lead of 13-3.

With defenders Aiste Mockeliunaite and Ashlea Salter working well with Tiffany Brice, they stifled the Canons to maintain a 37-10 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Venus really kept up the fight and pressure to secure the victory.

POM: Hazel Hucker, Jess Chee & Aiste Mockeliunaite; OPOM: Beth Hayes; sponsor: TMB Patterns Ltd

Somerset Division 3
Luna 38, Mars 18

LUNA pushed early on in this meeting of two Bridgwater teams, with amazing feeds from Gail Cornish (C) and Kate Wells (WA) bringing them and handy 14-3 lead.

Mars’ defence of Flora Horrox (GD) and Amy Miller (GK) frustrated Luna’s shooters, Michaela Hoppins (GA) and Sharon Ethridge (GS), forcing them to work harder to get free.

But Dawn Gardener (WA) worked tirelessly to overcome Mars’ defence with accurate feeds into the circle.

The match entered the final quarter 31-10 to Luna but Mars, led by Alicia Clapp (GS), won this quarter 8-7.

This was a great inter-club match with everyone playing in high spirits.

Luna POM: Gail Cornish; OPOM: Rebecca Dunn; Mars POM: Flora Horrox; OPOM: Chris Shaw; Mars sponsor: MJB Auto Services