Liskeard Tigers 25

Bond Girls 21

A great team effort, with the added benefit of their supporters, pushed Liskeard Tigers to a win against table-toppers Bond Girls on Monday.

The teams were evenly matched throughout, with the lead never stretching further than a few goals either way, but it was Tigers who had the final say in this closely-fought game.

Della Moloney opened the scoring from a Liskeard centre but this was quickly equalised at the other end and then it was Bond Girls who took an early lead. Liskeard regrouped and Holly Lemon and Jo Nickle worked hard to feed the ball to their shooters. With the Bond GS all but eliminated by Emily Tamblyn, Tigers pushed forward to draw level to finish the first quarter six goals apiece.

Liskeard started the second quarter the more positive, pulling out a three-goal lead before Bond had a shot at goal thanks to superb turnovers in defence. Tamblyn's height advantage dominated the Bond GS but the GA began to feed the ball quickly into attack. A disallowed Moloney goal brought the scores level but Lucy Smale found the net on the whistle to give Liskeard a one goal lead at half-time, 12-11.

Sarah Collins replaced Nickle at WA for the third quarter and worked well with Lemon. Smale struggled under the post but Moloney and Collins turned over numerous balls out of defence meaning Bond were unable to gain much advantage, the quarter ending 17-17.

Barker and Tamblyn swapped in defence for the last quarter and with all to play for both teams started well, each scoring from their own centre pass. Defence was tight and possessional play was key for Liskeard, with Barker, Tamblyn and Debbie Drinkell backing up well in defence. Bond Girls' GA netted all her attempts but Smale and Moloney were both on form. With just minutes to go it was all square at 21, but Liskeard really stepped it up at the end. Everyone worked tirelessly, with Player of the Match Holly Lemon picking off key interceptions to feed back to the shooters who rewarded their team's efforts, netting four goals in a row to take the game 25-21.

Captain Lucy Smale said: 'I was so pleased with how the team pulled together and a win against top of the league is just the reward we all needed.'