Injury to Tomlin mars big clash
BLAZE A upset the previously undefeated Premier Division champions with a result that would on paper rank firmly among their all-time competitive highs.
But there was a significant dampener to their 49-41 Tuesday night triumph in that influential Rezzers Green GA Verona Tomlin, an all-time Guernsey great, suffered a shock Achilles injury at a pivotal point in quarter three of the match.
Tomlin left their Grammar School showdown by ambulance in a very similar vein to her basketball accident in autumn 2019, which ruled her out for the remainder of the season.
Blaze captain Nena Copperwaite had to balance the joy of winning with her sympathy for the stricken opposition.
‘Obviously we’re delighted with the win,’ she said.
‘However it would’ve been nice to battle the full match out with “V” on court as she’s such a big impact player and presence on court.
‘We wish her a speedy recovery – absolutely gutted for her to do it all over again.’
While Blaze had full availability for the first time in around four months, Rezzers started without shooters Anna Trump (away) and Clare Henry (unwell) and Tomlin’s injury would only exacerbate their lack of circle options.
But in losing for the first time since October 2020, Rezzers still proved worthy opponents and fought to the end.
Blaze were slow off the mark and took a while to settle feeding the circle, with Rezzers GK Abby McCracken tipping numerous balls.
Teenager Emma Sykes had slotted in at Rezzers GS, partnering Tomlin, and remained calm amid pressure to help fire her team to a 13-8 quarter lead.
Blaze found their rhythm in quarter two and throughout the game impressed in both circles – defensively Ella Staples and Amy Fallaize excelled – while Zola Saunders worked towards player-of-the-match at GS.
They capped Rezzers’ half-time advantage at just one – 23-22.
The champions continued to shoot accurately and defend solidly, with both McCracken and eventual POM Gemma Batiste making great turnovers out back, and the scoreline was level at 28-all when disaster struck Tomlin.
The unfortunate injury catalysed a critical lapse for Rezzers as their opponents strode on, hitting the final stanza 37-31 ahead.
Taking Rezzers’ GA bib proved a baptism of fire for young Harriet Savident, but she settled well alongside Sykes with some nice movements and conversions.
Yet Blaze held on to take all five league points as Rezzers salvaged a single one via goal difference.
The experienced Saunders, who now has a leading five POM nominations, is still learning and on this occasion delivered two sneaky off-the-post tricks to herself from backline passes.
‘We’ve been trying to get her to have the confidence to give them a go for ages and she did it twice,’ Copperwaite said.
Overall, the Blaze captain called it ‘a really well fought and contested match from start to finish’.
Rezzers captain Tiff Gervaise-Brazier echoed that sentiment, though not without a tribute to her injured ally.
‘Ultimately as well as teammates, we are friends, and seeing V go through a similar injury in 2019 and knowing the rehab ahead of her is really tough to see,’ she said.
‘We are absolutely gutted for her. It was a good game but obviously we had the wind taken out of our sails with V’s injury affecting us all mentally, meaning we made some mistakes that Blaze took advantage of.
‘Just like all teams have been through at certain times, we have injuries, illness and unavailability to contend with at the moment, but I’m proud that we continued to play well and continued to compete despite V’s injury affecting the game.’
Rezzers managed to win the title without Tomlin in their 2019-2020 campaign, but both the injury and loss are setbacks and they are now effectively on level ground with Lightning A, whom they face next Tuesday.
Lightning tuned up with a 69-24 win over their own B team.
The A team dominated from the start and led 30-12 at half-time before their WD Bonnie Le Noury sealed POM, matched by opposition counterpart Rose Haysom.
