NETBALL: Georgia holds her nerve to seal a thrilling win for Lutterworth

The Market Harborough Netball League returned to action after the matches had been washed out by the weather the previous weekend.

And the opening game of the day proved to be one of the closest of the season so far as Lutterworth and Snowfinders served up a real thriller.

Lutterworth’s Georgia Clarke scored an impressive tally of goals to put her team into an early lead but it was Snowfinders who led by just one at half-time after a good defensive display from Tilly Higgs.

An equal third quarter left it all to play for in the final minutes and, despite sharp-shooting from Snowfinders’ Sophie Pounds, a key interception left Lutterworth with ball in hand for the final seconds.

And a vital shot from Clarke saw Lutterworth take the win by a single goal and a 34-33 scoreline.

Northampton Storm dominated their match with Welland Valley Blinders from the first whistle.

Storm’s expertise and experience proved to be too much for Blinders as they recorded a 66-6 victory with Lucy Whitford and Sam Montgomery earning the player of the match accolade for their performances across the court.

Corezze took the first quarter of their match with Aircare Thunder 16-6 with the versatile Kim Walton creating opportunities on goal from the off.

That turned into a 32-14 lead at half-time and despite Ellie Chapman performing well for Thunder in the third, Corezze regrouped and Louise Glover pulled off some key turnovers to help her side seal a 59-34 success.

Siamo Sirens struggled to recover from a shaky start as Knighton went on to claim a 60-21 victory.

Char Keddie did create chances for Sirens but Knighton worked hard throughout with Sophie Beavan and Celene Watts both impressing.

Going into the final quarter, the score was 43-15 and despite a gutsy performance by the Sirens, Knighton were too strong.

The two Foxton sides met for their first tussle this year.

Despite some impressive passages of play from Flyers, it was Mavericks who came out on top 12-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Flyers came back with vigour and with notable performances from both Kim Durham and Lucy Matthews-Kirk, they managed to close the goal margin to 21-20.

However, Mavericks’ shooter Natalie Billington had an exceptional game and slotted the goals away with relative ease and Mavericks were able to hold off their rivals to eventually seal a 45-34 win.

MHBC were quick out of the blocks against Aircare Lightning as they took a 13-5 lead.

Lightning settled going into the second quarter and with some key turnovers from Stef Johnson, they took the quarter 13-11 (24-18).

Lightning continued to challenge the MHBCs with Emma Hadkiss’ movement and precision on goal helping to win the quarter and take them to within two goals.

However, MHBCs pulled away in the final quarter with shooter Janet Smith in exceptional form and they edged to a 45-38 success.

Harriers took a narrow 8-6 lead over Turner’s and it remained close at half-time with Kerry Colquhoun and Jess Hughes in good form for their respective teams.

But it was Harriers’ determination and grit that won out.

Some interceptions from goalkeeper Lindsay Collins helped limit Turner’s chances on goal.

Despite an excellent performance by Ella Garratt at goal attack for Turner’s, particularly in the final quarter, it was not enough to bring them back into the game as Harriers ran out 31-21 winners.