Guernsey Press

Sarnians' title hopes end with defeat to Nerine B

GILL QUERIPEL was not at all surprised to see her Nerine B team shock big rivals Fortis Sarnians One when the Condor Ferries Premier League resumed.

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GILL QUERIPEL was not at all surprised to see her Nerine B team shock big rivals Fortis Sarnians One when the Condor Ferries Premier League resumed. The Nerine second string edged home 26-23 to kill off Sarnians title hopes.

'We weren't surprised by the result at all as we have been pushing for it for a long time.'

She said that the absence of one of Sarnians key players helped their success.

'We capitalised as Tracie Hards, perhaps Sarnians' most influential player, was missing due to a back injury.

'They were not depleted though and I think they had a full team apart from Tracie.'

Queripel added: 'It was a good all-round team performance although the two circle defenders, Cassie Le Paige and Anais de Carteret, excelled. Also Lois Batiste played well in centre court and her experience paid off.'

These were not ideal conditions for a netball match due to strong winds and wet court.

However, the Nerine coach said: 'Yes it was windy, but at the end of the day, it's the same for both teams and the players need to learn to adapt.

'Once the ball got into the circle and to the shooter they were popping them into the hole.'

De Carteret and Sarnians WA Nicki Pettitt both deserved their player-of-the-match nomination.

Meanwhile, TCCI gained their first win of the season, 35-23 over Nerine C.

The game started slowly due to the windy conditions but they did not seem to effect TCCI's GS Jan Fazakerley, who was on fire and converted virtually every goalscoring opportunity given to her.

Nerine C pulled back to within five goals in the second quarter but could do nothing to stop TCCI gaining this important win.

Division One saw another upset as top-of-the-table Fortis Sarnians Two were beaten convincingly by Nerine D 53-25.

Nerine D got off to a good start with Lisa Martin and Jo Brehaut passing well into the circle and some excellent shooting from Shelley de Lisle and Kiara de Carteret put them into an early lead, which they held throughout the game.

Nerine's defending partnership of GK Claire Green and GD Emma Brookes made life very difficult for the Sarnian shooters.

Richmond Masters carried on their winning ways with a 23-17 victory over

P & J Conservatories One.

Both teams took a while to settle, with the ball going back and forth for a few minutes before the first goal was scored.

At the end of the second quarter, the score was 12-9 to Richmond, suggesting the game was evenly matched but had Masters converted all their attempts at goal, it might have been a different story.

P & J GA Jan McCurdy battled hard throughout, with Richmond's defending partnership of GK Elaine Creed and GD Julie Wright making things as difficult as possible.

Heritage One beat the young Nerine G side 34-17 in a game where yet again the high winds caused problems for both teams.

Some good centre-court play by Heritage's WA Mel Taylor and C Katie Robinson gave them the advantage but Nerine G fought hard and unfortunately for them their shooters found it harder to adjust to the blustery conditions.

Nerine F beat Nerine E 39-25 in the division's only other game.

Division Two saw Guernsey Electric narrowly beat HSBC Honeys 25-22 after overturning an early deficit having started with only six players.

Heritage Two returned to their winning ways, after their defeat by PWC, by beating Nerine H 48-21.

P & J Conservatories Two, fielding two recent signings Laura Fallaize and Becci Welsh, had a tough game against PWC.

The latter took an early lead and although P & J fought hard, they were never able to catch up and PWC came out 49-40 winners.

Division Three saw Fortis Sarnians Four beat their fifth team 32-19 while Autumn Gold overcame Nerine J 41-23.

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