Saturday 30th October 2010 Saturday saw a clean sweep by the Abbey Meads squads in the Swindon and District Netball League. The squads named A - E play in divisions 1 - 5 respectively and all came out with a clear win in their Halloween weekend matches.

Abbey Meads A took on Croft A and started off strong, settling into the game quickly with good attacking play from Julie Hewitt, Celia Dupont and Caroline Greenfield, ending the first quarter 15 - 6.  An early injury led to a necessary change which, to the teams credit, didn’t impact on their steady performance. By half time they were leading by 14 goals and some further defensive changes allowed Helen Maine, Helen McGrath and Susie Lidbury to continue to command the defence in the second half of the game. The final score was 43 – 29 continuing Abbey Meads A’s, 6 game winning streak!

The B team got off to a good start in the 1st quarter with some excellent shooting from Sam Thompson. Following some good turnovers in defence by Cathy Gerrish and Pat Durham, Abbey Meads B led Park B 14-5 at quarter time. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters were close with Abbey Meads holding steady thanks to some great mid court interceptions from player of the match, Laura Taylor. Final score, 40-31.

The C match got off to a slow start with the first quarter ending only 6 - 4 to Abbey. Both our defending and attacking sides pushed the game up a gear to make the half time score 16-4, with the defence team of Cruikshank and Tuck preventing any Park goals that quarter. The second half saw Park C switch up their Goal Keeper and Goal Shoot to try and bring things back in their favour. With the 3rd quarter ending 22 - 11, the Park goal difference earned the Shooter our player of the match. Despite strong blocking from the Park defence, Skinner and Purcell were able to maintain the goal advantage with some excellent centre play from Waite and Harris. Abbey pushed on to result in a final score of 29-17 with Goal Attack, Billi Skinner awarded Abbey Meads player of the match. A very enjoyable and competitive match against a friendly Park squad.

The D team had a good game this week with Nicola Gillhespy, Lissa Comer and Jo Harvey working well in defence. The attacking side of Susan Maggs, Becky Brennan, Billi Skinner and Tracey Absalom proved the stronger force with a half time score of 17 - 12. Subtitutes Vicki Rees, Kayleigh Harper and SIan Waite enforced the end result of a 27 - 15 win. A nice game with a well deserved win.

Abbey Meads E squad started well and went into an early lead at the 1st quarter 12-4. Pinehurst pulled back in the 2nd quarter with only 2 goals behind. The E girls stepped up the pace again and excellent scoring by Katie and Natalie kept Abbey in the lead. Good defending down the other end of court prevented Pinehurst from scoring many more goals, although a good effort from a very young team! Final score, 31 - 16.

Abbey Meads A vs Croft A 43 - 29 Abbey Meads B vs Park B 40 - 31 Abbey Meads C vs Park C 29 - 17 Abbey Meads D vs Lawn E 27 - 15 Abbey Meads E vs Pinehurst E 31 - 16 Based on information supplied by Jennifer Purcell.