After a run of successful games Paulton’s B team were feeling nervously confident heading into Saturday’s semi-final despite playing opposition from the league above. With masses of support from the sides they took to the court for a nervous start. After the nervous start the B team settled into their positions and with some good centre court movement from Jade and Liz they took a very narrow lead 7-6.
A quick change saw Charlotte replacing Kim at WD, fitting in well she took many interceptions allowing the ball to go up the court quickly. Katrina and Becky in defence worked well as a partnership preventing the Queensway attack from gaining the advantage. Queensway however came back fighting and the quarter remained goal for goal with some good shooting from Kristie and Helen who worked well together. This fast quarter finished with Queensway in the lead 13-14.
Another change around saw Kelly Bailes come on in place of Kristie at GS and Kim come on at GD. The fresh players pushed the game forward with Kel on target and Kim slotting back in with Becky to keep her player out of the circle. Jade played a fantastic quarter covering more court than any other player. With some good passing in centre court Paulton B kept on attacking the circle and this paid off, they took the lead 21-18.
The final quarter saw more change with Char moving to GD and Laura coming on at WD. Laura’s energy helped Paulton keep going through the horrid rain and keep intercepting Queensway’s centre court passing. Paulton B took the game with a fantastic score of 28-21. This was a fantastic team performance with Jade Woodbury playing some outstanding netball throughout the whole game. Bring on the final!!
Thanks to all the supporters who braved the elements to come and keep us going!
The semi-final day arrived with a crowd of supporters and all players were keen to get started. After an impressive win last week Paulton started the match with confidence yet knew they had a tough match ahead. The first quarter saw the rain come down but Paulton battled hard with Victoria, Deb and Josie playing out of their skins to turn balls over. However, Dolphins were ahead 12-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Settling into the second quarter Paulton took advantage with Cheryl and Davina moving around the shooting circle with real ambition and scoring some amazing goals. With the majority of centre passes being converted both Paulton and Dolphins were not giving up the game but Paulton were successfully ahead 21-18 at half time.
With a good team talk and a few wise words from Stu, Paulton decided to take on the second half with the passion to win! Hayley and Shelley had to stay very strong throughout with good attacking and defensive play which thankfully resulted in accurate shooting from Davina and Cheryl. At the end of the third Paulton were still only just ahead by 31-28.
The last quarter started with more torrential rain but fitness prevailed in the Paulton squad. The game now belonged to Paulton and they played hard right up to the last whistle. The final score ended 42-33. Another notable team performance! Thank you to all those who came to support, especially in the awful weather!
Player of the match (voted by Dolphins)- Hayley Travis
KO Plate Final March 13th in Taunton.
With a home match against Quantock, supporters were strong which automatically boosted the spirit of our home game. Paulton had a quick start showing great team work with strong passes down the whole court leading to a steady lead for the first quarter, finishing a speedy half at 16-8 to Paulton.
The second quarter shown that Quantock was still eager to win with strong shooting but with on the ball defence and tactics from Ness and Victoria, paulton turned over many balls which lead to accurate passes into the circle from Hayley and Shelley which resulted the second quarter into a promising lead of 28-13.
With team rotation in the third quarter, the shooters had changed, yet the accuracy of shooting from Davina, Cheryl and Ness had not. With defence through out the court, centre court player Deb had many great interceptions, some of which she didn’t get away with! But with the 100% effort paulton displayed, this lead to paulton pushing ahead 40-20.
For the final quarter, Quantock was still fighting strong. Paulton playing with a excellent standard of fitness shown that even in the final quarter, they still had lots of energy jumping into many interceptions showing a solid team performance leading to a 52-26 victory.
Too add to a fantastic win and great team effort, team captain Hayley was given well deserved man of the match for her excellent feeding and defence down the court.
After a couple of defeats Paulton B needed a win in order to regain their confidence, and Saturdays match was just what they needed.
The first quarter started brilliantly with the strong defence of Becky and Katrina keeping out the attempts on goal by Ambers and with some great interceptions in the centre court by Kim and Elizabeth Paulton kept on turning that ball over to take the lead ending the quarter 2 – 6.
After a quick team talk from Victoria Paulton continued to gain confidence and this showed in their attacks on goal, with Helen, Kristie and Jade playing well together feeding the ball leading to another 9 goals. Ending the quarter 7 – 14
After some delicious oranges Paulton took to the court for the third quarter re energised and it showed with the defence coming forward to aid the attack on the Ambers goal. Again great working of the ball by Paulton’s attackers allowed them to maintain the lead, finishing the quarter 11 -22.
The final quarter saw a change in Ambers who decided they weren’t going down with out a fight, so they came out all guns blazing, unfortunately they couldn’t get passed Paulton B’s strong defence who kept on battling and turning the ball over. The final score 19 – 28 meant a great deal to Paulton B who will use this win to continue to grow as a team.
Thanks to Victoria for coming along!!
Saturday saw Paulton A take on Bishops of Wells in their first home match of the season.
In previous seasons this fixture has always been a close match so they knew they had to start well. The quarter started a little slow but as it progressed Paulton picked up the pace much to the surprise of Bishops. At the end of the first quarter, Paulton had taken the lead 14-8.
Going into the second quarter, a rotation change saw Ness come on at WD for Deb, Paulton really settled into the match and thanks to Josie and Victoria in defence, they got some great interceptions, allowing Cheryl and Davina to extend the lead to 26-13 with some great shooting.
Another rotational change saw Ness move to WA and Deb coming back on at WD. Paulton continued to force Bishops into making mistakes with some excellent court play from Shelley. Even though Deb and Shelley clashed with Deb continuing to play with a black eye!!! The quarter ended 40-21 to Paulton
Paulton went into the last quarter with another change this time in the circle with Ness moving to GS and Hayley coming back on at WA. Excellent passing from defence to attack saw Paulton really take control of the match. With the game ending 54-28
Paulton A Vs Bishops
54 28
Report Paulton A vs Dukes wed 30th sept 2009 Another mid week match seen Paulton A travel down to Tor for an early game.
Paulton started strong from the whistle, playing against a changed Dukes side. Both teams trying to control the pace of the game. Dukes defence were strong but Davina and Cheryl played hard and made every ball theirs. At the end of the first quarter paulton had a slight lead 11-10.
Going into the second quarter with squad rotation Paulton settled into the match and turned over some great balls leaving Cheryl and Davina to extend the lead with some accurate shooting. Vanessa’s vocal support in the attacking end lifted the team, and at half time Paulton led 26-17.
Rotation change seen Josie coming in at GK in her first match this season, putting real pressure on the Duke’s shooters! With the dynamic combination of Hayley and Vanessa in attack, feeding the circle strongly, Paulton kept their heads and increased the pace of the game. Victoria and Josie picking up rebounds in the defending circle, and the team working well to take the ball up the court using all the channels. Stuart would of been proud to watch.
Paulton went into the last quarter 36-28, Shelley coming back on at C, controlled the center of the court, reading the play well and passing some strong passes into the circle, showing great experience of the game. With Catherine in at WD creating great space in the middle third and also providing back up support for the attack, Paulton finshed 46-35 at the final whistle.
Paulton travelled away in their second game of the season. Hoping for a strong start like the previous game, Paulton did not disappoint. The first quarter started steadily and although the attack went a little too deep at times, the shooting by Cheryl and Davina remained consistent meaning a lead of 13 goals to 9.
The second quarter started well with the defence of Vicky, Catherine and Ness starting to put pressure on Knaves attack. This meant Knaves only managed to score 7 goals. With accurate passing into the circle by Shelley and Hayley, meant Paulton extended their lead to by an amazing 20 goals, ending the quarter 29 goals to 16.
The third quarter saw Paulton continue to use their Squad rotation with Shelley coming off, and Hayley going as Centre and Ness going into aid the attack. This did not slow the teams momentum as Paulton continued to play well as a team, with Debbie adding pressure to the Knaves attack. This quarter ended with Paulton extending their lead to 45 goals-20
The final quarter saw Shelley coming back on and Paulton set them themselves a target of 10 goals. With Paulton picking up the loose balls and remaining their excellent defending to keep the pressure on Knaves attack, Paulton continued to dominate the game and ended with a well deserved 56 goals to 26.
Paulton A 56 Knaves 26
The start of the season eventually arrived with a firm Paulton A squad ready to get the game under way. The evening match was greeted my excited yet nervous players at the thought of playing a strong Timsbury team.
Paulton planned to start well and the first quarter was impressive by having a 14-7 lead at quarter time. This was achieved by some strong defensive over turns from Catherine, Victoria and Debbie; matched with accurate shooting from Cheryl and Davina.
The second quarter saw Timsbury come back with a fighting spirit and brought the score back to 22-18. With changes made by both teams at half-time, the match was still open. With Vanessa coming on as goalkeeper, Paulton still dominated the game. With a strong centre court from Shelley and Hayley, the lead remained at 33-28 with one quarter to go.
The last quarter started anxiously with control and determination needed to secure the game. Timsbury were not giving up the game easily but Paulton succeeded and won the game 40-36.
Paulton A v Harlequins
40 v 36
