- Stratford Ladies Purples 30 Shooters Flames 42
- Stratford Ladies Blues 55 Thunderbirds 1 15
- Comets Tornadoes 42 Thunderbirds 2 38
- Thunderbirds 5 22 Thunderbirds 3 46
- Trust 38 BDR 19
- Thunderbirds 4 16 Shooters Sparks 27
The teams were back on court on Sunday morning raring to go after the Christmas break. The early match between Stratford Ladies Purples and Shooters Flames saw both teams playing well in a competitive and friendly match. Shooters Flames worked their socks off with great shooting from Danielle Sutton from the warm up and throughout the match earning her the players’ player award. Despite great defence by Stratford Ladies Purples, particularly Alice Linley who was playing up, Shooters Flames took the win and 5 points.
Stratford Ladies Blues were also in action against Thunderbirds 1, taking a comfortable win 55-15 and 5 points. Both players’ choices went to the centres recognising the strong midcourt support of Amy Towne – C for Stratford Ladies Blues - and Freya Richardson – C for Thunderbirds 1, who also received the umpires’ player award.
The final early fixture was a closely fought contest between Comets Tornadoes and Thunderbirds 2. Thunderbirds 2 started strongly and led by 6 goals in the first quarter. Comets Tornadoes fought hard to level the scores at 20 all at half time. With great shooting from Vic Bean and Ellie Lees, who received umpires’ player, Thunderbirds 2 led by one goal in the third quarter. In a close final quarter, Comets Tornadoes took the lead and won 42-38, with Mollie Paish – C for Comets Tornadoes – deservedly taking players’ and umpires’ player.
The late fixtures saw Thunderbirds 5 take on Thunderbirds 3. Both teams played well with players’ and umpires’ awards distributed across attack, mid-court and defence players. While Thunderbirds 3 took the win, Thunderbirds 5 improved the goal difference from their last meeting and were agonisingly close to taking their first point from a match - just ONE more goal would have put them within half of the winning score and earned them a point!Meanwhile Trust played a strong game against BDR. BDR took the lead in the first quarter. Both teams defended well with Helen Handy – GK for BDR - taking the umpires’ player and Hollie Jones – GD for Trust – taking the players’ and umpires’ award. Trust made a great come back and took the lead from the second quarter and won the game. Ami Mertens-Dixon’s excellent shooting ensured BDR took away one point.
Thunderbirds 4 faced Shooters Sparks in a close game. Thunderbirds 4 took the lead in the first quarter, leading by one goal. Shooters Sparks took the lead in the second quarter. Both teams intercepted well and seized opportunities with great mid court support from both centres. Shooters Sparks extended their lead in the third and final quarters taking away 5 points, with Thunderbirds 4 taking a valuable point.
Player of the match awards:
- Stratford Ladies Purples: Umpires' and players' player – Alice Linley
- Shooters Flames: Players’ player – D Sutton, Umpires’ player – Jemma Moore
- Stratford Ladies Blues: Players’ player – Amy Towne, Umpires’ player – Anastacia Bradley
- Thunderbirds 1: Umpires' and players' player – Freya Richardson
- Comets Tornadoes: Umpires' and players' player – Mollie Paish
- Thunderbirds 2: Players’ player – Carolyn Stacey, Umpires’ player – Ellie Lees
- Thunderbirds 5: Players’ player – Alice Southall, Umpires’ player – Lindsay Ampuller
- Thunderbirds 3: Players’ player – Lizzie Chute, Umpires’ player – Louise Tarmey
- Trust: Umpires' and players' player – Hollie Jones
- BDR: Players’ player - Ami Mertens-Dixon, Umpires’ player – Helen Handy
- Thunderbirds 4: Umpires' and players' player – Olivia Peachey
- Shooters Sparks: Players’ player – Laura Tolley, Umpires’ player – Isabella Wilson
