Parsons and Speight to the fore as Stars shine on

The Portsmouth outfit claimed wins at Hampshire and regional level.

On Saturday, they were in county action as they beat FM Eclipse 44-41 at the Wellington Academy.

And they followed that up with a 28-20 defeat of SAS in Aylesbury 24 hours later.

Despite trailing to FM Eclipse at the end of the first quarter, Stars fought back to level before edging ahead in the last period to win.

Chloe Blatch, defence for Stars, said: ‘The pressure was on from the beginning.

‘We started strongly, with some good centre passes.

‘But Eclipse settled well and were ahead at the end of the first quarter.

‘We then started to defend well, while Jane Jewell began the fight in attack.

‘She passed some great balls into the circle.

‘We drew level at 31-31 as we went into the last quarter and then pulled ahead ahead with four goals.

‘Georgia Parsons shot amazingly under pressure. She was our player of the game.

‘Helen Jones kept pushing through in defence despite a back injury.’

Sunday’s regional clash in Aylesbury was a very slow-scoring game.

The two defences made it very hard to move the ball away from the circle.

Both Stars and SAS were struggling to find the net – with the shooters starved of space.

And the first quarter ended with the score poised at 7-4.

The match continued in a similar vein after the break.

At half-time, the gap had narrowed to 13-11. Stars shooter Terry Speight came on for the second half and soon the visitors began to find some rhythm.

However, it was not until the final quarter that they really eased the pressure by pulling clear to win 28-20.

Speight was a worthy players’ player after she held some amazing rebounds and shot from anywhere in the circle.

Stars are now excitingly positioned in joint third in the table.

The club was founded a decade ago by Jewell and Vonda Thorne – with just five juniors.

Since then, the successes have been numerous.

Stars now have teams in the Portsmouth League and has won premier division one eight times.

They have been second in Gosport & Fareham League division one numerous times – but have not been able to shift Jets off their throne.

Stars are also closing in on promotion to division one of the All About Netball League.

The juniors play in Fareham on a Thursday night. The under-12s won the last winter season and are playing in the under-16s this season.

There are plans to enter another regional team, if Stars land the county crown.

They remain focused on the grass roots, too, with various junior sides and an under-18/21 squad on the rise.

To find out more about Shooting Stars or to get involved, contact Jane Jewell on 07780 578136 or email [email protected]