Representative Netball was in full swing at the Lynches Road courts on Sunday with the Armidale and District Netball Association hosting the first round of the Northern Inland State League.

Teams from Armidale, Tamworth, Inverell, Narrabri and Moree played against each other in  both Divisions 1 and 2, with the Northern Inlands best netballers on show.
Armidale’s Division 1 side had a solid preparation leading up to the tournament with three weeks of training under coach Wiki Camilleri.
This paid off for the girls who secured two solid wins against Tamworth, winning  39-23 and  defeating Inverell 41-26. In a closely fought game against Narrabri the girls narrowly lost 48-46.
Captain Rochelle Joyce was happy with her side’s performance and believes her side is looking good for the rest of the competition.
“We had two wins beating Tamworth and Inverell and we lost by 2 to Narrabri. We only had 7 players for the day which meant that none of us got a rest.  Narrabri were tough competition made up of mostly under 17’s with a few players in the NIAS Academy. They often play together and shot well and moved really fast on the court”.
“We all thought we played really well but a special mention has to go to our centre Kelly Walters who played all three games in one of the most active and tiring positions on the court” said Rochelle.
The Divison 2 side struggled on the day with one win and two losses. They were defeated by Tamworth 37-23, Inverell won 41-35 and they defeated Moree 42-18. The division 2 side had very little training or preparation and can only improve in the next round.
Armidale Division 1 side are currently coming second and play next  on July 25 in Moree and the Division 2 side is sitting in 4th position on the ladder.