Guernsey’s representative netballers did the double at East Sussex Mavericks but in nail-biting fashion, firstly trailing the whole game before forging ahead in the last 3min. and winning 39-37, the next day scraping a three-goal victory after relinquishing a near match-long lead and having to battle their way over the line.
They now hold the claim of being top of the CD Phoenix Regional League table – albeit having played more games than almost all of their opponents – and Panthers head coach Naomi Szmierek is pleased to see the players fighting for it.
‘We don’t get that goal-for-goal practice over here,’ she said.
‘The Specs [Lightning] girls are winning their league games fairly comfortably. We need practice in those goal-for-goal games – that’s one of our focuses this season.
‘There’s lots of positives to take. It’s great to come away with two more wins and we are currently sitting top of the table.’
Compared to their season opener last month, they were down on several impactful players and so had to utilise a few different combinations at the Turing School.
After entering at GS in quarter two, squad youngster Sophia Roger worked her way to player of the match, which she ultimately shared with Amy Le Tocq for her own out-of-position performance at WA.
Roger’s introduction also allowed vice-captain Ella Staples to combat Mavericks’ tall holding shooter.
Panthers were 9-8 down after the first quarter of that match and saw that grow to 22-16 at half-time.
They narrowed the gap to three in the next quarter but ultimately only managed to sneak ahead in the dying embers of the match.
That contrasted strongly with the following day, where Panthers used a more stable line-up.
A better-prepared bunch of Sarnians sped out the blocks to lead 13-8 after the first quarter.
They inched ahead further by half-time, making it 21-15, but then had that slashed to one with 15min. left after a scoring surge from their rivals.
Mavericks picked up where they left off to snatch their first lead of the match with 4min. remaining on the clock, but they were not able to cling onto it and Panthers held their nerve to win 40-37.
Captain Charlotte Hill earned POM after a dependably strong perform
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