NETBALL: PINEHURST Netball Club suffered heartbreak when they narrowly missed out on a place in the National Clubs League.

The Swindon-based club were one of eight sides competing for the prize of a place in the league at Kettering in Northamptonshire.

The teams taking part were spread over more than 300 miles, with representatives from Bath, Gateshead, Essex and Manchester all involved.

All eight teams played each other in a league format competition with NCL places up for grabs for the top team and runners-up.

With only one round of matches remaining Pinehurst were still in with a chance but they were just edged out and finished in fifth position.

The NCL is a competition involving the best 56 teams in England and the top two sides on Saturday now go into Division Seven of the league.

Competition administrator Rona Hunnisett said: "Pinehurst were so close and only lost out in the last round of matches. It was a fantastic day of netball and Pinehurst will get another chance in the qualifiers next year."

The eventual winners of the competition were a team hailing from Worcester.