After having a break for half-term, the Honiton Netball League resumed last week, writes Steph Upson.

Now the teams are in play-off mode, the games are closer than ever!

The meeting of TNC Otters and Hi Q certainly underlined just how close the contests are at this stage of the campaign!

Both teams were playing well with quick movement down the court at both ends. The sides traded goals and this led to the lead constantly changing hands from first whistle to last when they could still not be separated and were locked at 26-all.

Stacey Salter was awarded with the Player of the Match (POTM) award for Hi Q whilst Becky Bess scooped the accolade for TNC Otters.

Charley Gardiner fought hard when playing for HNC Hot Shots against Sidmouth Chicks and helped her team to collect a point for securing more than half the goals of the opposition.

Young Immy Hewitt, who was playing up a division, put on a fantastic performance for the Chicks, which earned her the POTM award in what was ultimately a 35-26 for her side.

Another Sidmouth team were in action against the Panthers. Panthers worked hard on their defending and were able to take advantage of any mistakes made by the Toucans.

Their attacking was on form too, allowing them to take a comfortable win at 39-24. For Panthers, Anna Benson - once again - picked up the POTM award whilst Anna Rowson took the individual honours for Toucans.

The final Division One match was the one between Blackdown and High Tide.

Jasmine Wellman was the star for High Tide, helping her team pick up a point from the match. Meanwhile, Rosie Tucker helped drive Blackdown forward and they took the match honours thanks to a 25-15 final score to bank the three points.

In Division Two, Sidmouth Eagles and Beer Blazers met for the second time this season.

In a closely contested match, Eagles took the lead from the first quarter, but the Blazers fought hard to chase the goals and narrow the gap.

It was a fast-paced game and even when injury forced a substitution to take place for the Eagles, they did not falter and won the match 28-20.

Accurate shooting and skilful moving around the semi-circle meant that the shooters from both teams - Darcy Hastie (Eagles) and Steph Upson (Blazers) - picked up the POTM awards.

Two of the newer teams to the league also met with the clash between Cranbrook Arrows and Jurassics.

The Arrows were simply irrepressible and ran out emphatic 40-2 winners with Bobbi Richards being named the POTM winner for Arrows while Wendy Spencer took the plaudits for being the top player for Jurassics.

Division 1 A GP W D L GF GA Pts

Sidmouth Chicks 2 2 0 0 64 49 6

HNC Hot Shots 2 1 0 1 56 64 4

HiQ 2 0 1 1 55 56 3

TNC Otters 2 0 1 1 49 55 3

Flamingos 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Division 1 B GP W D L GF GA Pts

Panthers 2 2 0 0 64 44 6

Blackdown 2 1 0 1 45 40 4

Sidmouth Toucans 2 1 0 1 57 56 4

High Tide 2 0 0 2 32 58 2

HNC 3 T’s 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Division 2 A P W D L GF GA Pts

Sidmouth Eagles 2 2 0 0 58 33 6

Beer Blazers 2 1 0 1 63 56 4

SSW 1 0 0 1 28 43 1

Pixies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

JD Tyres 1 0 0 1 13 30 0

Division 2 B P W D L GF GA Pts

Cranbrook Arrows 1 1 0 0 40 2 3

Otter Valley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

HNC Honeyz 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TNC Tornados 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Jurassic’s 1 0 0 1 2 40 0

Player of the Match award winners in the latest matches: Jurassic’s - Wendy Spencer; Cranbrook Arrows - Bobbi Richards; Sidmouth Eagles - Darcy Hastie; Beer Blazers - Steph Upson; Sidmouth Toucans - Anna Rowson; Panthers - Anna Benson; Blackdown - Rosie Tucker; High Tide - Jasmine Wellman; TNC Otters - Becky Bess; HiQ - Stacey Salter; HNC Hot Shots - Charley Gardiner; Sidmouth Chicks - Immy Hewitt.