Panthers found that after travelling to face CD Phoenix on their home turf in East Grinstead and returning with two losses, going down 55-36 on the Saturday but losing by a tighter 45-37 margin on the Sunday.
Guernsey director of netball Sally Carns highlighted their ‘really much-improved performance’ on the Sunday, but the previous day’s showing was not without its merits.
Three unanswered goals got Panthers off to a flying start, and they kept pace until mid-way into the first quarter, at which point Phoenix struck a scoring run of six to break away. The hosts ultimately won the quarter 15-8.
Phoenix picked up where they left off, pulling further away to make it 28-18 at half-time.
Jaymee-Leigh Weysom had come on at WA and made her mark, withstanding some really physical contests against a strong defensive side.
Phoenix inflicted further damage after a close start to the third quarter, striking a series of scoring runs to dominate the period 17-8.
However, Panthers fought back in a well-contested final stanza where the two teams scored 10 goals apiece.
Young Eva Bourgaize landed player-of-the-match honours after producing cracking shooting stats in GS initially, then in GA for the second half.
‘We came out firing with all guns blazing, but we just couldn’t quite sustain that and it was a real defensive game,’ Carns said.
‘We lost three of the quarters but we came back and drew the last quarter, which was really good.’
The Guernsey girls went in refreshed and with a positive attitude the following morning.
Although Phoenix took the initial advantage and ended quarter one leading 11-7, Panthers managed to strike an impressive five-goal scoring run during the next period.
This contributed to them hitting half-time within reach of their opponents – 21-19 down.
They then drew level at 23-23 after continuing to defend excellently and pressure their opponents.
Further bursts of scoring contributed to Phoenix getting away again, finishing the third quarter ahead by four, and eventually running out winners.
Captain Charlotte Hill earned POM after controlling the game well in C despite not feeling her best over the weekend.
‘A real defensive masterclass from both teams, and some real physical, contested netball,’ Carns said.
‘A really great show. Unfortunately, we couldn’t push on from the 23-all position, but we kept it within four or five [most of the game].’
Despite marking it off as another double-loss weekend, they had held their own against a club who fielded several players from their South Division One and are now in the top three in this more developmental league.
Carns is far from downbeat as they look onto their final match weekend, facing Royals on 14 and 15 March, then in coming months returning to the regional trials process.
‘It’s really positive. We’ll see what the squad can do in training over the next few weeks and we’ll build on this from there.’
