Essex Open were well beaten by 2nd placed The Downs in their first regional game following the Christmas break.
Missing key players Essex were soundly beaten by The Downs at Esher College. Essex started the game very slowly and they allowed The. Downs to dominate the early exchanges. With less than 10 minutes played Essex found themselves 9-1 down and staring at a humiliating defeat.With their opponents dominating in both circles Essex were finding it hard to create shooting opportunities. Towards the end of the first quarter Essex became more competitive and at the end of the first quarter had reduced the deficit to 16-6.
Some good shooting from long range from Zoie Humphrey and Stacey Jackson kept Essex in the hunt but The Downs were able to work the ball close to the posts and score consistently. At half time they had established a 31-14 lead.
To their credit Essex battled hard and never gave up and indeed in the third quarter they were probably at their most competitive.However The Downs were still able to extend their lead to go into the last quarter trailing 44-23. The final quarter followed a similar pattern to the rest of the game with Essex never quite able to score consistently enough to put any pressure on The Downs who ran out convincing 60-32 winners.
Next week Essex return to action in the Essex Met League with a fixture at Redbridge Sports. Centre against table topping Manor

Team: R Reynolds- Blanche, Linehan, Fox, Biss, Cambell,Wilks,Humprey, Bush, Jackson