Lightning at the double

While Lightning A squeezed past Blaze 38-33 in a top-of-table battle between two former Premier Division champions, their B team were left celebrating a very welcome 57-35 triumph over Rezzers Black.

Lightning B are not without a target in the Deloitte Winter League’s top flight this season, as they will likely be duelling with Rezzers Black for the fourth and last qualifying spot in next spring’s play-offs.

Rezzers Green, Blaze and Lightning A are fully expected to fill the top three and contest the title.

On Tuesday, Blaze’s zone defence proved troublesome for even the table-topping Lightning A.

Blaze player of the match Hannah Blondel starred at WD as an important cog in their back three, complemented by Ella Staples and initially Amy Fallaize.

Even with Bonnie Le Noury’s POM performance at centre and effective shooting, including a remarkably calm U18 GS Immy Giles, Lightning finished quarter one in a dead heat – 9-9.

The teams remained neck-and-neck through quarter two, even after Blaze centre and captain Nena Copperwaite stepped off due to niggling calves, which pushed them to shift their defence as U18 Vicky Yabsley took the GS bib.

Lightning were also making good use of the rotating substitutes, while a half-time score of 18-18 meant it was anyone’s game.

Donna Brehaut’s team began to iron out their earlier errors and establish their first real lead, finishing quarter three 28-25 up. Blaze’s main change came from giving young Codie Ford welcome exposure at GK.

Lightning continued to press ahead to seal a positive, if hard-fought, victory.

‘It was a very close, well-contested game, especially within the first half,’ captain Brehaut said.

‘We have to give credit to Blaze for their defensive set-up.

‘We did not play as well as we can play, but it’s good to grind out a win.

‘We all came off court knowing we had worked for that win.’

Although the season’s outcome will ultimately depend on the play-offs, Brehaut added: ‘We are going into every game to win. We are going into it as we would every normal game.’

After losing 39-26 to Rezzers Green last week, Blaze captain Copperwaite welcomed this particularly well-contested match.

‘We were really pleased with our performance despite the loss and also thoroughly enjoyed it,’ she said.

‘Definitely a solid performance to build on.

‘Again it gave Vicky a chance to play in a close, physical match with us and get more confident commanding the circle. Likewise, Codie did really well when she was on.

‘To say that’s literally our third outing this season, we did well.’

Outside the top three, Lightning B have looked the best of the rest this young season.

They flew out of the blocks on Tuesday to lead Rezzers Black 18-6 at the quarter.

Sharpshooters Grace Phillips and Emily Kendal played no small part in that, eventually sharing POM, yet it was overall a strong team effort.

Rezzers had benefited from introducing Kristy Webber to the centre court after 10min.

The team’s eventual POM provided handy experience, working alongside the other seniors to help settle a side otherwise featuring plenty of youth, and they largely held pace in quarter two. But they still lagged 30-17 at half-time.

Lightning continued to pull ahead, including leading 40-23 at three-quarters, in a performance that Brehaut, with her coach’s hat on, was ‘ecstatic’ with.

‘I’m really excited with what they have to offer this season and I think they will get better,’ she said.

‘I think they will start closing the gap on the top three.’

Rezzers captain Lois Batiste believes it will be a transitional year for her side, who have plenty of younger members new to the Premier Division.

She also admitted the rotating subs are taking some getting used to.

‘We just didn’t get into any rhythm – the shots wouldn’t drop and their shooting was excellent,’ she said. ‘A disappointing large loss for us.’