The North West Kent League (NWKL) had its third meeting of the winter season at Coldharbour Leisure Centre with action from the top divisions.

League leaders KCNC1 continued to put pressure on the rest of the teams in Division One with a solid victory over Haimo1 on Saturday.

Leo Bacchus of KCNC said, “We got off to a great start against Haimo, putting the pressure on their game from the first whistle”. Strong defence work from Judith Dennis at Goal Keeper (GK) and Karen Mitchell at Goal Defence (GD) put the Haimo shooters off target. KCNC shooters Jayne Goldsbrough and Jenny Pearson were able to settle into their rhythm quickly and the team built on there first quarter lead throughout the game. Bacchus said, “It was unfortunate that Haimo suffered a couple of injuries, but they did manage to have a good run and the shooters got into the scoring mode.” However they were unable to recoup the deficit and the game finished 53-34 to KCNC1.

KCNC1, who merged with KCNC2 have not lost a game yet at NWK, and also with clean sheets are KCNC4 and KCNC5. Blackheath Wanderers kept KCNC3 at bay and beat them by 3 goals in Division 3 with a close match that ended 34-31 to the Wanderers.

In other action from Division One, Crystal Palace1 took points from Wealden3. Palace found their form, easily keeping possession in attack and shooting accurately. Haley Nouch in at Wing Defence (WD) for Palace, made some critical interceptions in the last quarter to take the pressure off Palace, giving them a 12 goal victory to finish 48-36.

Raiders1 also celebrated a return to winning ways with a victory over Chislehurst1. Michaela Emanus of Raiders said, “The final score of 37-23 does not reflect the game. Chislehurst played very well and made us work hard.” Both teams were without key shooters and Raiders had to reshuffle their team in the third quarter after an injury to their Goal Attack. Emanus said “Both teams only managed to score 4 goals in the third, and the final quarter was a very tight affair which we managed to win 7-6. Karina Moses, our GD was player of the match”.

Wealden1&2 were scheduled to meet Vibrant but were given the points by Vibrant who now prop up the table.

In Division2 the matches were close with 2 games both decided by just a single goal. Parkhouse needed a win and met Tonbridge in a very competitive mode. Gemma Goodall of Parkhouse, said “We just had our 7 players and no subs available. We knew it would be a hard match against an experienced Tonbridge team. Defensively we dominated and contested every ball into the circle, but Tonbridge attack was consistent and made the most of every converted ball. Parkhouse kept the pressure on and after three quarters we were two goals up” A close match separated by only one goal, it finished 40-39 to Parkhouse and a good win for them, achieving their first League win of the season.

Electra1 played Aquila in an equally close thriller, to end 33-34 to Aquila. Lionhearts go top of Division2 with a 45-31 win over Unique. AquilaTel were not so lucky; they are the team to beat in Division 2 and despite a comprehensive win of 59-31 over Westcombe Park1, they were denied the points due to not having an umpire. This has dropped them down the table but it surely won’t be long until they are back at the top.

For reports and pictures from the lower divisions see next story.

For full fixtures and results go to www.nwklnetball.org.uk Want to get involved? Go to www.kentnetball.co.uk for information about netball in South East London and Kent.