After the disappointment of Water Babes withdrawal from the league there was another ‘hiccup’ when Pixies were unable to field a team due to injuries and holidays – they therefore had to forfeit their match against Hi Q, writes Graham Ingram.

It is all very tight at the top with just four points separating Flamingos in top spot from Sidmouth Toucans in seventh.

Flamingos held on to the top place when they recorded a victory over Otter Valley Dairy by 59-41.

With Karen Hall in good form at GS they gained the lead in the third period and then dominated play in the fourth quarter despite good work from Rachel Tucker for the Dairy.

Signs South West continued their fine run of form when they met Sidmouth Toucans. SSW started 18-24 behind, but by halfway they had moved into a 40-32 lead with Poppy Williams playing at her best. Despite Helen Terry having a good game in attack for the Toucans they found themselves chasing the game and Sidmouth ended the game with a 66-43 defeat at the hands of Signs South West. Uplowman, like SSW and Hi Q are just one point behind Flamingos thanks to a win over Howden Hawks. Uplowman started the game chasing their opponents handicap lead, and by halfway were 39-41 behind.

Alice Quick was having a fine game for the Hawks whilst Zoe Beresford was playing well for Uplowman. The third quarter was a close one, but Uplowman finally edged in front at 47-45, before storming the final period to win 64-46. The game of the evening was between Tip Top Trees and JD Tyres. From being 26-28 down, 3TS turned that round to lead 33-30 and then held a halftime advantage of 47-40 thanks to some great play from Laura Dare. As is often the case in netball the third quarter proved pivotal with JD finding something extra to close the gap and start the final quarter 52-51 up. With Tanya Broom increasingly influential at GA the Tyres didn’t look back and finished with a 64-57 victory.

P GD Pts

Flamingos 7 53 19

Signs South West 8 86 18

Hi Q 7 85 18

Uplowman 8 8 18

OPG 6 67 15

JD Tyres 7 -2 15

Sidmouth Toucans 7 -13 15

Howden Hawks 7 -54 11

Tip Top Trees 7 -58 11

Otter Valley Dairy 7 -44 9

Pixies* 7 -103 3

*Deducted 3 points for not fulfilling a fixture