Anna comes up Trumps as Rezzers pull away in fourth
THE champions finished with flair to settle another nail-biter on Tuesday night.
Held to three goals with six minutes on the clock against the previously-unbeaten Lightning A at Grammar School, Rezzers Green finally made the decisive break to score another big win in the Premier Division, 48-39.
It is still a young season – they are not yet a quarter of the way through, with Rezzers, Lightning and Blaze A all set for some exciting encounters to come – but Tiff Gervaise-Brazier’s team remain the ’Prem’s only unbeaten side so far.
Ultimately, Rezzers seemingly benefited from earlier playing their Trump card – B team step-up and player-of-the-match Anna Trump – as a mobile GS option to replace holding shooter Clare Henry.
‘It meant a change of dynamic in attack, which allowed us to pull away in the last quarter,’ Gervaise-Brazier said, having previously highlighted the strength in depth available in this season’s Rezzers squads.
Both sides had employed very familiar sevens to begin with.
Although Lightning enjoyed some fleeting moments of leading inside quarter one, Rezzers’ hairline 9-8 lead at 15 minutes suggested what was to follow.
Lightning’s shooters – GS Donna Brehaut and GA Steph Batiste – were making excellent use of their chances while, at the other end, GK Lorna Hall and GD Anais Flatres presented an imposing zone defence.
But Rezzers’ own defence forced their opponents to play around the wing more than usual, as WD Cassie Le Page made some great turnovers and formed an effective unit with GK Abby McCracken and GD Gemma Batiste, all bringing the ball well into attack.
Deep into quarter two, Lightning suffered a gap in their own defence as WD Nat Cavanagh came off with a nasty knee injury.
However, Sammie Cox stepped up and helped cap Rezzers’ half-time lead at 17-15.
Rezzers then handed Henry’s GS bib to Trump, who combined effectively with GA Verona Tomlin.
Rezzers continued to attack persistently and with clear direction to finish quarter three 31-28 ahead.
Their three-goal lead did not grow significantly until the dying minutes – and captain Gervaise-Brazier credited the new shooting dynamic for the strong finish.
‘It was a great and competitive game,’ Gervaise-Brazier said.
‘We set a target of coming out faster from the start of the game, as we can be guilty of a slow start, so we are pleased that we managed to do that.
‘Lightning didn’t make it easy for us and there were quite a few minutes of turnovers in the second half, and the game was still settling.
‘Donna and Steph’s shooting must have been near 100%, which made any mistakes for us costly.’
Brehaut, who earned Lightning ‘POM’ for her attacking efforts, came away pleased despite the loss.
‘From our point of view, it was pretty even and it was well-contested,’ she said.
‘All credit to Rezzers – they saw the game out in the last six minutes.
‘All-in-all a great game, but we were guilty of making a few errors. We know what we need to work on and we will definitely take the positives.’
After three ‘big three’ matches in as many weeks, Brehaut looks forward to meeting Blaze A before Christmas in the next cycle.
‘The top three will take points off each other – there’s no doubt about that,’ she added.
‘Rezzers have got their noses ahead at this point, but there are definitely some big games to come.’
The other planned Prem game, between Blaze A and Lightning B, did not go ahead due to squad issues.
