Charnwood Sapphires clinch playoff spot

Charnwood Sapphires went into Sunday's East Midlands Netball Regional League Division 2 fixture against top of the table, Falcons Yellow, knowing that only a win would guarantee them a playoff spot.

Charnwood Sapphire got off to a nervous start, quickly going 3 goals behind but they soon settled down and turned the score around, taking a 13-10 lead into the first quarter break.

Sapphires continued to pile on the pressure in the second quarter and with accurate shooting from Lisa Griffiths (Goal Shooter, GS) and Sam Griffin (Goal Attack, GA) they increased their lead to 28-22.

After half-time, Falcons Yellow launched a fight-back and took a sizeable lead early in the third quarter. The young Sapphires held their nerve though and pulled back a few late goals meaning that although they lost the third quarter 11-15 they still had a slim 39-37 lead.

The fourth quarter started with end to end action. Steph Garfield (Centre, C) continued to feed the circle with pin point passes as she had throughout the match and after a tense finish Charnwood Sapphires held onto their small lead to win the high scoring game 53-51.

The win saw the team cap off a great season to finish second in the division and qualify for the Division 1 playoffs in Loughborough University’s Sir David Wallace Sports Hall on 14 April.