Rezzers mark their 10-year anniversary in great style
RESOLUTION IT GREEN have successfully defended their Premier Division title in a campaign that went down to the wire.
After a long and Covid-interrupted season of battling Blaze A for the Winter League’s top accolade, it was only fitting that the ‘Prem’ season concluded with a winner-takes-all shoot-out between the leading teams.
Technically, Rezzers Green merely needed a draw to clinch the title, but they did not settle for bare minimum at Monday night’s decider at the Grammar School.
Rezzers instead sped out of the blocks and ran out convincing 44-27 winners.
Sharp shooting from GS Clare Henry, their eventual player-of-the-match, and GA Verona Tomlin proved instrumental, but it was another sterling team effort from the experienced side who have won three of the last four top-flight titles.
Their strong first quarter – 10 goals scored for just four conceded – was no exception.
GK Abby McCracken spearheaded their defence alongside GD Gemma Batiste, with Cassie Le Page, Tiff Gervaise-Brazier and Becky Chamberlain forming a familiar and effective centre-court.
Rezzers converted their turnovers in attack and defence, limiting Blaze’s retaliation.
Meanwhile, although Blaze circle defenders GK Ella Staples and GD Amy Fallaize turned over numerous balls, the 2018-19 champions could not fully utilise them.
That allowed Rezzers to push further ahead and hit half-time leading 22-10.
Blaze brought Lillie Cochrane on to C, shifting their centre-court to accommodate the promising U18, and she again impressed against experienced opposition.
They ultimately ended with two stronger quarters as holding GS Zola Saunders completed her individual ‘POM’ performance.
But that was not enough.
Despite a few errors seeping into Rezzers’ game, they entered the final quarter leading 33-18 and won that final stanza too.
Victorious captain Gervaise-Brazier was ‘really thrilled’ both with the result and the performance.
‘As always, the game was closely contested and there was some really nice netball from both sides throughout,’ she said.
‘I really think it is a testament to the high standard in Prem across the board.
‘In the final quarter, we made some unforced errors under pressure, but we continued to find our rhythm again in the second half of the final quarter.’
This concluded a splendid season for the Resolution IT club that was formed just over a decade ago.
Hopes of a title treble faded when Rezzers Black missed the bottom-four Plate, losing by a single point to T&T Blue, but their youth Whites side won Division One unbeaten to give them extra cause for celebration.
‘It is 10 years since the forming of Rezzers and it is fantastic to win the league and reflect on the achievements of the club and the players,’ Gervaise-Brazier added.
‘Despite the season being disjointed due to lockdown, all three teams went on to have some of their best performances in the latter half of the season, including Blacks and Whites, making it a really exciting time for the club.’
Of course, it was not the ending Blaze captain Nena Copperwaite had desired.
But it was hard to be overly downbeat after coming back from the lows of last season, where post-Christmas squad issues left them struggling to even field teams, to force a decider against Rezzers.
‘Rezzers were firing on all cylinders and we just couldn’t capitalise on a lot of our turnovers, whereas they were clinical,’ Copperwaite said.
‘We felt we didn’t perform to our best by a long margin tonight – too many unforced errors and missed opportunities.
‘Although obviously bitterly disappointed with the loss, we are still so pleased with our overall season performance, which was head and shoulders above last season’s.
‘We lost to a very strong Rezzers performance and wholeheartedly accept that they very much deserved that win.’
