The North West Kent League (NWKL) showed its depth of field on Saturday with thrillers from the climbing divisions as well as the top three.

Division 4 produced some very tight games. Lee NT held division leaders Raiders2 to a 32-32 draw. Michaela Emanus of Raiders said, “Our second team had a hard match against Lee NT. We had a lot of play but couldn’t always sink our shots. At one point we went 4 goals down and the last minutes of the game were very exciting as Raiders fought back. We missed our last attempt, but for that we would have won and that would have been very hard on Lee NT as they gave their all. A draw was a fair result for both teams.”

There are three teams chasing Raiders and each had to fight hard for crucial points at the weekend. Swanley1, Denes and Priory are all on 12 points and now separated only by goal average; the pressure will be on the shooters. Swanley beat Topaz by just 3 goals, but it was even closer for Denes’ single goal advantage over Epic. Caroline Draper of Denes said, ”This was a hard fought game on both sides but with one last push in the last quarter we came out winners 28-27”

Both KCNC4 and Sabina are keeping a clean sheet in Division5. The Kent Club beat Swanwood by 5 goals to stay top of the division and Sabina1 had a close run game against Hornets1. Nicci Wyborn of Hornets said, “We had a tough game on Sat against Sabina. It was a really tight match with both teams taking the lead at various intervals. However, Sabina just had that little extra in the tanks and took the lead in the last quarter. We couldn't drag it back despite a valiant effort by everyone”. This is a high scoring division with some very accurate shooters; 105 goals were scored in both KCNC’s game against Swanwood and Sabina’s battle with Hornets.

Top scorers of the NWKL meeting however were NextGen in Division 8 who managed to sink a goal a minute against Pavillion. Final scoreline in that match was 60-37.

Electra2 stopped Crystal Palace2 from getting their first league win of the season, and despite some good court work, Palace lost 28-36. They now battle with ICE and Swanwood to get away from the bottom of the table.

Blackheath Wanderers go top of Division 6 after beating second place rivals Lionhearts2 by 4 goals. The Wanderers were trailing four goals at quarter time and couldn’t close the gap until after half time when they began to catch up. They kept the pressure on and showed they deserve to be topping the table, ending the game 45-41. There were more close games in Division 6 with a 37 goal draw for newly promoted Istead Rise against Wealden5. Meanwhile Chislehurst3 beat Haimo2 by 2 goals ending 39-37.

The Blackheath Wanderers Netball Club were also in action in Division 9. They claimed their first victory of the season against a strong Chislehurst side. Chislehurst4 gave the Wanderers a tough game and made them claw back a 5 goal deficit after half time. The Blackheath side didn’t want to lose and played textbook netball to take it to within a single goal going into the last quarter. They got a well deserved win finishing 32-29 and both sides should enjoy the rematch.

Another closely contested game in Division 9 was played out as Caspians took on Crystal Palace3. This was a great game that went down to the wire giving victory to Palace by a single goal 43-42.

Raiders3 helped put the icing on the cake for the clubs’ outing at NWKL this week as they pulled off a victory against developing side Hornets3. Michaela Emanus of Raiders said, “Our new third team took to the court against Hornets and met up with a very determined team. Raiders had a lot of play but struggled to sink the shots in the first quarter of the game. Goal Defence, Dionne Pascal, was outstanding. She was like a gazelle flying through the air picking up balls left right and centre. She was in fact our player of the game which Raiders eventually won 34 -16”.

NWKL next round of matches for all 11 divisions is at Coldharbour Leisure Centre on Saturday 25th October. For full fixtures and results go to www.nwklnetball.org.uk If you want to get involved go to www.kentnetball.co.uk for more information.

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