It all came down to this...

Well yes, they could...

Corsham came into this match knowing they only needed 1 point to clinch this year's title and gain promotion to the First Division. With our captain Lou not allowing us to think about defeat (but within 9 goals) and wanting us to go and win this league in a 'winning' style we were all set to start the game strong just as we have done in the majority of our games this season.

Well, we didn't disappoint Corsham struck hard in the first quarter and pushed Croft, we won our centres and took some key interceptions. Winning the quarter by 8 goals.

Croft isn't a team to be casual about, they have some excellent players and their shooting was great so it was important we did all we could to stop them from getting to the shooting circle. The second quarter was proof that this season Corsham have done what is needed and kept up the pressure and not drop the intensity of their game (we'll never make the mistake as we did against Lawn!) We went into halftime 30-17 up.

Now we can't lie, we did talk at halftime about how we wanted to celebrate the win and where these celebrations may be held, but it was more about us having the motivation to keep pushing rather than being cocky.

The third quarter has to be all about our defence. Why? We only let in 4 goals, if anyone reading this thinks that, this is easy and should always happen in a match, should go and look at the majority of the scores over the season. Netball by default is a high-scoring game, it's basically the point of the match, it can take just seconds to get the ball from the centre pass into the shooting circle and scoring. So the fact that the defence only allowed them to get the ball in play 4 times in 15 minutes is just outstanding and should be a master class for anyone who wants to push for titles going forward.
With that being said in this quarter we can't deny the shooting prowess of Michelle and Deb 13 goals went in and notched our score up to 42-20.

Now being 12 goals up, last game of the season, a Saturday morning, it's time to ease upright? no chance, we may have known going into this quarter that we were definitely champions regardless of any other results in the day but this was still about making a statement ready for next season. We pushed on and put another 12 goals on the scorecard. With the game finishing 54-31.

Croft Player of the Match - Deb Carson - another POM for Deb and quite frankly how she doesn't get it every week I am not sure, the turn of speed, instant instinct about where Michelle would be it's just great to watch. And as a defender, even though I know how she 'plays' it is sometimes undefendable...

Corsham Supporters Club Player of the match (thank you Ian and Michelle's Niece) - Alice Wilson - yet again in a match, Croft's wing defence just didn't know how to stop Alice from the centre pass nor from feeding into the circle. Well done Alice.

As many of you will tell this isn't a Simon masterpiece but I know Simon would have taken this opportunity to do a little reflection on the season, so here is my little nod to that.

From the first centre pass this season, we have worked together and played some great netball. The team has found a rhythm and the years of playing together worked to our advantage and allowed us to naturally 'know' where we should be and do. It didn't always feel like 'hard work' and by that, I mean that we and an instinct, and it never felt too forced and the wins just kept coming, and as they say confidence breeds confidence. One thing that does need noting this season is that we've had some great support and extra depth to the squad, which brings me onto some 'thank you's' for all the players at Corsham Netball who have played for the team this season. You all helped the team win promotion and many of you now feel like 'regular' members of the team. I think that this is one of the reasons we've been able to outperform so many of the good teams in this league, unlike other years when we were a bare 7 or maybe 8 players.

Words can't bring to life the way you feel when you win a league, the dedication, the frustrations, the 'I was so close to getting that ball', 'how did she catch that' moments, the injuries :-(, that feeling you can only get standing on a netball court when it's minus degrees, to that time when it just feels euphoric.

2021-2022 Second Division Champions

We will celebrate the only way we know how with food and a drink or two in a couple of weeks.

Well done Corsham :-)