LEIGHTON Buzzard Netball Club’s Jets and Jaguars both stormed to victory over teams from Crawley Tornadoes at the weekend.
Jets thrashed Luton side Crawley Yellow Tornadoes 62-28 to secure their first home win of the year.
As the weather turned colder, the match started evenly, with Tornadoes scoring first and Jets matching them goal for goal.
Gaining some warmth and getting into their stride, the Jets crept ahead, finishing the quarter 14-9 in the lead.
Having started slowly, the match then went all Jets’ way as superb interceptions from many of the home team’s players saw the Jets double their score over their feisty opponents by half time.
With excellent work in the attacking half and strong defence at the other end, Jets gained goal difference again in the third quarter.
The final quarter saw Tornadoes make some changes and fought hard to regain some ground, but the Jets team were not to be defeated and continued to outplay their opponents despite some smooth and convincing play from Tornadoes.
A fine effort from the entire team saw the Jets win the match 62-28, with Lisa Howlett winning a close contest for the player of the match award.
Jaguars were also in action and followed in Jets’ footsteps with a resounding victory over another Crawley Tornadoes team, this time the Pinks, in a divisional cup game.
Some good interceptions from the Jags’ defence with some solid support from Olivia Cherry and Grace Etherington, stopped the opponents scoring.
This coupled with accurate passing into the shooters and excellent play from player of the match Sarah Harris – playing out of position at centre – saw the Jags start 2013 with a victory.