Warm weather and a slight breeze greeted the netball players at Ward Oval on Satur-day afternoon for the opening round of the 2021 Cobar Senior Netball competition.
In A Grade, the Divas 2021 season got off to a shaky start when they only had five players available at the commencement of their match with Hot Shots.
Hot Shots made the most of the player over-lap and, by the end of the first quarter, they had taken a 14-11 lead.
Hot Shots extended their lead to be nine goals the difference at half time before Divas late starter, Demi Smith, entered the game.
Smith definitely made the difference and her strong defence and ability to read play helped to turn the game around for the Divas.
At the end of the third quarter, the score was tied at 40-all and with Lauren Urquhart’s accu-rate shooting in the final quarter, Divas fin-ished with a 53-49 win.
Best on court for Divas was Rachel Simon, who displayed plenty of versatility playing in the Centre court and also in defence positions throughout the match.
Hot Shots were well-served by their shooters Alanna de Vries and Cairo Haronga who teamed up well in the circle.
In the other Round 1 scheduled A Grade game, JKM forfeited to Pumpettes.
In B Grade, Real Steel finished with a 34-7 win over Golfie Mystics while Sharpe Shoot-ers got the better of Gumnuts winning their game 34-21.
While the final margin in the Real Steel/Golfie Mystics game was substantial, it was however a well contested match all up and down the court.
The Mystics however failed to convert all their shooting opportunities which eventually cost them the match.
Real Steel were well-served by their shooter, Amazon Gladwin while Mystics’ best on court was Elodie Manns.
Both players shared in the game’s Best and Fairest and Sportsmanship points.
Sharpe Shooters and Gumnuts started their match on an even keel with the Shooters nar-rowly ahead 4-3 at the first break.
They had extended their lead to four goals by half time and it was six points the difference at the end of the third quarter.
Sharpe Shooters then finished strongly to eventually claim a 13 point win, 34-21.
Sharpe Shooters were well served by Carli Crook and Olivia Deighton while Cheryl Lew-ington was best on court for Gumnuts.
In Round 2 matches this Saturday, JKM Dynamic Fitness will meet DIVAS and Pum-pettes will take on Hot Shots in A Grade.
In B Grade, Golfie Mystics and Sharpe Shooters will go head-to-head while Real Steel will be looking for back-to-back wins when they take on Gumnuts.
