After a long break for Christmas, Jersey came up against their strongest competition to date in Exeter and were playing the away fixture without the injured Calli Bushell.
However Jersey still had a strong squad which featured under-18s Lara Crenan, Megan Conroy and Lynsey Pitman.
Pitman was forced to contend with a towering goal-defence as her opposition but was supported by an excellent attacking duo of Jenna Meredith at wing-attack and Michelle Nelson at centre, who constantly repositioned to feed their shooters.
Laura Beeston had a near perfect shooting average, helping Jersey to a first quarter lead of 14-8.
Lara Crennan then came on at centre but with Exeter also making changes, the opposition came out stronger and reduced Jersey’s lead to 21-19 by half time.
A strong Jersey defensive trio of Lauren Devine as goal-keeper, Hayley Miller as goal-defence and Laura King at wing-defence kept Jersey in the game with the scores becoming equal.
However, with a last quarter re-shuffle putting Meredith to goal-attack and Nelson at wing-attack, Jersey overpowered Exeter and began to pull away, finishing the game with a 42-37 win.
Joint coach Maureen Cox said: ‘It was nice that we were able to play everyone who travelled, and this proved what a valuable asset a flexible squad can be.
Being able to adapt and change our weaknesses was what won us the game.’ Fellow joint coach Ally Meridith said: ‘This result leaves us undefeated in our push towards gaining South West Premier League status.
‘With a couple of injuries and under-18s coming in we coped really well against tough opponents and that was really pleasing.’ Jersey: Laura Beeston, Lynsey Pitman, Jenna Meredith, Michelle Nelson, Laura King, Hayley Miller, Lauren Devine, Lara Crennan, Megan Conroy.
