Our third match of the season saw the whole team assembled at last. We were particularly pleased to have Julia back among us after her injury, and she quickly made her presence felt with some excellent interceptions at wing, turning over play and gifting the ball straight back to our shooters.

A healthy squad of 9 meant that almost all of us got to enjoy a quarter’s rest on the sidelines. Circulating resting players helped us recharge and re-evaluate, keeping play inventive and the intensity high to the very end of the game. It also afforded each of us a rare spectator’s-eye view of our team play. What a difference 90˚ makes!

It was a game of two halves: the first two quarters were satisfactory enough, but it wasn’t until the third quarter that play really started to fly. We were a little unsteady out of the starting blocks at the first whistle, and this slight scrappiness dogged us until half-time, with a few uncharacteristic footwork errors, fumbled interceptions and some optimistic side-on play. However, we went into the third quarter with a comfortable lead – and a healthy fear of getting too comfortable.

The third quarter saw Rustlers move up a gear, and what a treat it was to watch from the sidelines! A flagging Raiders side struggled to keep pace with slick attacking play up the centre court, perfectly timed balls into the circle, and a relentless hounding from a covey of Coateses in defence.

At the end of the third quarter we had already smashed our shooting record for the season, and before long we were celebrating a 62-27 win. Raiders put up a determined fight until the end, but a few too many predictable set-plays left them open to interceptions, and it seemed there was little they could do to stand in the way of our shooters. “Has she missed any? Does she know how good she is??” said the Raiders GS of Calista, looking wistful. Rachel, meanwhile, was voted player of the match again for her unfaltering attacking play and excellent shooting.