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Trust Helping Hands 38 Shooters Flames 41
Thunderbirds 3 15 Stratford Ladies Purples 59
Comets Tornadoes 48 Thunderbirds 1 21
Thunderbirds 5 10 BDR 51
Thunderbirds 4 17 Thunderbirds 2 33
Shooters Sparks 22 Stratford Ladies Blues 50

After last week's matches being postponed due to heavy rain, teams were treated to a bright, crisp morning on Sunday.  The early game between Trust Helping Hands and Shooters Flames was tightly contested from the start.  Flames opened up a good lead to begin with, leading by 8 goals at the first interval and by 7 at half time.  End to end action saw some excellent shooting by both teams.  Vicky Harrison for Trust scoring some outstanding long range goals, and well supported by Leonie Green.  Dannie Sutton for Flames also rarely missing, despite being matched by an excellent defensive performance from Trust newcomer Hollie Jones.  Dannie was supported in the circle by Naomi Parker and Sian Betteridge who also showed their adaptability in defence over the course of the match.  Trust pulled it back in the third quarter going into the interval just 4 goals down and managing to close the gap to 3 by the final whistle.  

Thunderbirds 3 met Stratford Ladies Purples on the next court.  While Purples took a comfortable win, the team of youngsters battled hard to notch up another impressive goal tally against strong opposition.  Thunderbirds' Hannah Cumberworth had a great game, gaining recognition from both the umpires and the opposition for her contribution to the game at GD.

Meanwhile Comets Tornadoes took on Thunderbirds' first team.  Becky Fernandes Green was on form and took both umpires' and opposition's player for her on target shooting for Comets.  Thunderbirds played well in mid court with Freya Richardson [C] and Lottie O'Connor [WD] taking the player awards.

In the late games, Thunderbirds 5 met BDR.  The young team were at a serious height disadvantage with BDR having tall players in their team even against the more senior teams.  However, they did not let this phase them and played their best to take the game to BDR.  They gained momentum as the match progressed, failing to score in the first quarter but picking that up to score 3 in the 2nd quarter.  Q3 being their best in the match where they picked up 6 goals.  Alice Southall at GS picked up opposition's player for her presence in the circle.  Her counterpart Ami Mertens-Dixon at GS for BDR picked up the umpires' award for her shooting consistency.

The Thunderbirds derby this week was Team 4 v Team 2.  With newly registered players, and a player from Team 5 playing up, Team 4 may have struggled with knowing each others' play.  However, they managed to nearly double their previous goal tally and earned a well deserved point for keeping within half of the winning score.

The final game saw Shooters Sparks take on Stratford Ladies Blues.  Blues gained a strong early lead with Sparks taking a while to gain momentum.  Sparks' strongest period was Q3 where they conceded just 9 goals.  Beth Morgan at GA for Sparks worked hard to keep their goal tally up and earned herself umpires' player award.  Both teams had new players on court this week with youngster Ani Bradley at GS for Blues and Libbie Fox at WD for Shooters - both making strong debuts for their teams.

Player of the match awards:

• Trust Helping Hands: Umpires' player - Hollie Jones, Players' player - Vicky Harrison
• Shooters Flames: Umpires' player - Dannie Sutton, Players' player - Sian Betteridge
• Thunderbirds 3: Umpires' and players' player - Hannah Cumberworth
• Stratford Ladies Purples: Umpires' player - Laura Urqhart, Players' player - Clare Peirson
• Comets Tornadoes: Umpires' and players' player - Becky Fernandes Green 
• Thunderbirds 1: Umpires' player - Freya Richardson, Players' player - Charlotte O'Connor
• Thunderbirds 5: Umpires' player - Olivia Clayton, Players' player - Alice Southall 
• BDR: Umpires' player - Ami Mertens-Dixon, Players' player - Jenny Darby
• Thunderbirds 4: Umpires' player - Tilly Pettitt, Players' player - Micaela Grace
• Thunderbirds 2: Umpires' player - Holly Binks, Players' player - Lauren Simmonds
• Shooters Sparks: Umpires' player - Bethany Morgan, Players' player - Laura Tolley
• Stratford Ladies Blues: Umpires' player - Amy Towne , Players' player - Emily Turoczy​

​Stratford Ladies Purples 79 Thunderbirds 5 9

Trust Helping Hands 51 Thunderbirds 3 17
Comets Tornadoes 38 Shooters Sparks 24
Shooters Flames 56 BDR 23
Stratford Ladies Blues 59 Thunderbirds 4 9
Thunderbirds 1 32 Thunderbirds 2 26

The season opened on a bright morning, which was definitely a positive position given the rain earlier in the week and forecasts that suggested the opening games may be postponed.  We welcomed 4 new Thunderbirds teams to the league, and will be playing at Alcester Grammar School across 3 courts all season.  The division of 12 will be played across two mixed ability groups of 6, which 3 intergroup matches across the season.

Stratford Ladies Purples met Thunderbirds 5.  The final score shows that the groups really are mixed ability with Purples taking a comfortable win.  However, the Thunderbirds youngsters kept their heads up for the entire game, setting their own targets.  Emilia Sturt at GA hardly missed her shots, helping her team score 9 goals against the defending champions which is a hugely positive start to their season. 

Trust Helping Hands also took a reasonably comfortable win against Thunderbirds 3.  However, the scoreline perhaps doesn't do the youth team justice.  Again, they did not give up and played to the final whistle with determination demonstrating their commitment to their training and working on their set plays and positioning throughout the match.

The final early game saw teams familiar with each other take each other on - Comets Tornadoes and Shooters Sparks.  Sparks had their fitness tested playing with no subs, but were happy with gaining a point from the Comets team for being within half of the winning score and reflecting on some great intercepts and good communication through the court.

In their late game, Shooters Flames welcomed the return from injury of their captain Jemma Moore who despite umpiring many games last season, didn't play once.  A positive return for her picking up both umpires' and opposition's player award.  Her counterpart for BDR, Chloe Hancox, also picked up both awards - a great introduction to the team for the youngster.  Flames made a positive start to the game scoring over 20 goals in the first quarter, allowing them to settle into the game and take a convincing victory.

Stratford Ladies Blues were another team playing with no subs available.  They welcomed new player Bobbi Sands who adapted to different positions well and supported her team to a comfortable win over the youth side, Thunderbirds 4.  Tilley Pettit, captain for Thunderbirds, was a consistent support to her team throughout the match and took a well earned recognition from the umpires despite not playing the final quarter.

The final match saw the top two Thunderbirds sides meet each other.  League regulars, Thunderbirds 2, were challenged by the club's first team and a tight game played out.  Competitive mother and daughter pairing, Kizzy and Lolita Galvin, matched each other at C, with Lolita's team taking the win by just 6 goals.  It will be interesting to see how this fixture plays out in the next round!


Player of the match awards

Stratford Ladies Purples: Umpires' player - Emily Holmes, Players' player - Rebecca England
Thunderbirds 5: Umpires' player - Elin Gallagher, Players' player - Lindsay Ampuller
Trust Helping Hands: Umpires' player - Holly Jackson, Players' player - Rachel Goodman
Thunderbirds 3: Umpires' player - Poppy Paylor, Player's player - Eve Green
Comets Tornadoes: Umpires' player - Helen Mellor, Players' player - Ella Kirby
Shooters Sparks: Umpires' player - Katy Cwoidzinski, Players' player - Laura Tolley
Shooters Flames: Umpires' and players' player - Jemma Moore
BDR: Umpires' and players' player - Chloe Hancox
Thunderbirds 1: Umpires' player - Olivia Bollons, Players' player - Lolita Galvin
Thunderbirds 2: Umpires' player - Carolyn Stacey, Players' player - Yvie Manhood