On Saturday, Purnell's Netballers took on Newbarn, from Taunton. This was a must-win game for Purnell, as they sit comfortably in the top four of the league and Newbarn had only lost one game so far this season. The previous encounter at the beginning of the season saw Newbarn take the win by ten goals.
The young Purnell team, however, took to the court full of confidence, knowing that if they all played to their best ability, they could take the victory. Purnell had a squad of ten available and they knew it was a game that needed consistency, so hardly any changes were made.
The game started at a very high tempo as neither team wanted to lose their high league position, but Purnell dominated from the start. Lydia and Katie played very fast balls into the shooting circle, with Maddie and Cerys dominating the play, hardly missing any shots. All players were totally focused, both on and off the ball and they were playing the best netball that they have ever produced.
Newbarn were clearly flustered with the pace of the game and had no reply for the fantastic netball that was being played around them. The first quarter ended 12–7 to Purnell.
No changes were made going back on for the second quarter and the team were told to focus on first stage defending, as Newbarn could not cope with the pressure of being man-marked. This proved effective as, time after time, the defence of Sarah, Shannon and Georgina intercepted pass after pass. Newbarn were trying to force passes which Purnell quickly converted. It was clear that Purnell were all playing to the best of their ability with quick movement and hard accurate passes. The second quarter ended 26–15 to Purnell.
Again the team remained the same for the third quarter, as they were all proving themselves on court. Confidence was sky high and they were playing impressive netball and were asked to keep the tempo high and focus on forcing errors. This was probably the girls' best quarter, as they made Newbarn look very average at times, running rings around their opposition. Georgina and Sarah marked their centre passes so tightly that Newbarn could not feed the ball forward.
The home crowd were clapping and cheering the squad as they produced a fine display. Purnell concentrated and worked so hard during this quarter that they managed to extend their lead, 43–20. For the final quarter, several changes were made as Newbarn could never pull back the deficit. Molly came on at GK, Marie came on at WA, Laura came on at WD and Cerys and Maddie swapped positions. The team were asked to keep the lead and push Newbarn right to the final whistle. All of the changes clearly changed the tempo of the game, but Purnell were always going to win. Every single player contributed to the win and they all played phenomenal netball. At the final whistle, Purnell had deservedly won the game 53 goals to Newbarn 35. Georgina was voted Player of the Match. If the squad continue to play like this, they should achieve promotion this season.