Joelisa Cooper burns army in netball premier division

SENIOR national team stand-out goal-shoot Joelisa Cooper scored an incredible 46 goals from 50 attempts when she led Fire to a handsome 52-33 win over Defence Force in both teams' opening Courts All Sectors Netball League premiership division contest on Saturday.

Fire, the defending divisional league champions, played their first match since winning the opening-day knock-out competition at the Jean Pierre Complex, Wrightson Road, last weekend.

It was a welcome return to action for Cooper and company, after the pandemic stopped the league.

Defence Force looked a strong contender to halt Fire in their tracks after the two teams were level at 9-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Fire, however, pulled away to lead 21-17 at the half, before turning up the heat in the final two stanzas, outscoring their opponents 15-8 and 16-9.

Goal-attack Onella Jack claimed the balance of goals for Fire, scoring six of her 11 attempts.

Defence Force were led by goal-shoot Jody Sprott (13/15), followed by Kimmarie James Bernard (10/14) and Alicia Liverpool (10/13).

UTT also got off to a promising start, making light work of Police in a 43-20 victory.

Goal-attack KathyAnn Graham led all scorers with 20 goals from 28 attempts, while goal-attack Kalifa Mc Collin Lopez contributed with 11 goals from 15 attempts.

The day's five-fixture programme opened with a triple-header of championship division matches.

Both UTC and MIC scored big wins in the Championship X and Championship Y categories, respectively, as they also jumped off their campaigns.

Goal-shoot Liliah Matthews (24/37), and goal-attacks Kimberly Collette (9/14) and Crystal Noel Cockburn (15/23) were UTC's top scorers in their 49-15 drubbing of Defence Force.

In the latter match, MIC, led by De'Niqua Rush's 23 goals in 31 attempts, made a late surge to beat UTT 46-36.

In the only other fixture, Fire Youth defeated Jabloteh 30-24, thanks to goal-shoot Dionne James' effort of 21 goals from 28 attempts.

League action will continue in the alternative and retro divisions on Tuesday and Thursday, followed by the resumption of the premiership and championship divisions on Saturday.

Fixtures:

Tuesday

Alternative Division - USC vs Police, 5.30 pm

Alternative Division - UWI vs MIC, 6.20 pm

Retro Division - Defence Force vs Marvellites, 7.10 pm

Thursday

Alternative Division - UWI vs TT Post, 5.30 pm

Alternative Division - MIC vs Police, 6.20 pm

Retro Division - Police vs Jabloteh, 7.10 pm

Saturday

Championship Division Y - Police vs Fire, 12.30 pm

Championship Division Y - TT Post vs MIC, 1.45 pm

Championship Division X - Fire Youth vs Bermudez, 3 pm

Premiership Division - Defence Force vs Police, 4.15 pm

Premiership Divisoon - UTT vs Fire, 5.30 pm