Monmouth Netball Club's first team have had two very successful weeks on the netball court and have found the form they had been lacking at the start of the season.

On Monday 28th October they played Pontypool A at Cwmbran Stadium.

Both teams had only won one game this season and were looking to come away with a win to keep them out of the relegation zone.

Monmouth started the game slowly, making a number of silly mistakes which caused them to finish the first quarter 12-7 down.

They picked their game up when they went back on in the second quarter with the shooters Lisa Small and Danielle Jolosa working hard in the shooting circle with more accurate passes going into them from centre court players Emma King and Kali Jade Cross, but they were still behind 23-20 at half-time.

They upped their game in the third quarter, ensuring that Pontypool did not extend their lead by too much.

Going on the court in the final quarter it was 33-27 to Pontypool and Monmouth realised they had a lot of work to do if they wanted to take the win.

Every single player on the court gave 100 per cent in that final quarter, the defence of Mandy Davies, Vanessa Ball and Caroline Owens applying pressure and making it near impossible for Pontypool to attack, turning the ball to gain possession.

The team work was strong with minmal mistakes made, they kept fighting until the final whistle and won the last quarter of the game 15-7, making the final score 42-40 to Monmouth.

Kali Jade Cross had both player of the match and players' player. She had a tremendous game against her previous club and deserved both awards on the night.

The following week they played Risca A, who have been one of the top teams in the South East Wales Premier Division for many years, and they knew this was going be a tough game for them.

Monmouth started well, playing some skillful and strong netball. At the end of the first quarter they were ahead 12-11, realising that if they wanted to keep the lead then they would have to work harder than they have before without mistakes.

In the second quarter Risca took the lead and Monmouth's defensive trio of Davies, Ball and Owens then stepped up their game to make it hard for Risca to attack and forcing errors to gain possession, ensuring that the Monmouth side maintained a one-goal lead at half-time.

Nina Booker was back in play at shooter, and she and Small had their work cut out in the circle as the Risca defence were not going to let them have an easy ride.

With the help of King and Cross, they played their own game with skill. The attacking play was strong with Cross and King working tirelessly to feed the shooters.

They went into the final quarter 28-28 and Monmouth continued to work hard and didn't drop their standard.

The final whistle went and Monmouth had the win 38-32, which was deserved as they played the best netball they have played all season.

Player of the match was awarded to Lisa Small and Players' Player to Caroline Owens.

Captain Emma King is very pleased with her team's performance over the past few weeks and is looking forward to the remaing games of the first half of the season.

King believes that her team being fitter than they have ever been has played a big part in their success. Their next game is against top-of-the-table Ystrad A.