Diamonds travelled to a breezy Devizes determined to maintain their strong position in the league and continue to improve on the scoreline from their previous meeting with the Warminster team.
Diamonds had a strong start but both teams came out fighting hard to gain the advantage. The ball travelled up and down the court and both teams remained goal-for-goal throughout the quarter, finishing in a draw with 8 goals all. Diamonds came into the second stanza determined to push for a strong lead and that is exactly what we did. Tight defensive work from Fowler, meant that Wessex were not able to get as many opportunities to score, as the ball was quickly turned over and they were able to reap the benefits down the attacking end of the court. Despite some tight defensive work from GD and GK, great play around the D from Guy and Pleasants allowed the shooters to find comfortable positions for shooting and the goals continued to go in. Diamonds finished the quarter with a 12 – 18 lead.The third stanza presented a switch around from Blades sending their shooter down to her usual GK position to prevent further goals from Diamonds. However, this made little difference to the attack and the strong partnership of Maunder and Cox meant the goals continued to keep coming. Blades fought hard to keep up, but a strong Diamonds worked the ball from player to player down the court and remained tight on their players to take advantage of any stray ball for quick turnarounds. The third quarter finished with a fantastic 16-28 lead to Diamonds. With the final stanza beginning and a very positive 12-goal difference under their belt, Diamonds came in feeling strong and determined for the win. Tight defensive work from Rendell and Alexander meant that Blades had little opportunity to score, managing only 3 in the final quarter. Wessex continued to fight to reduce the goal lead but with continued strong play within the attacking circle the goals just kept on coming and we managed to finish the fixture with an 18-goal lead.Player of the Match – Georgia Cox. Players’ Player – Helen Maunder
