IT was a double win for Team Jets at the weekend as convincing victories over ENC Equinox and Titans Lightning kept their unbeaten streak in Regional League 1 alive.
It has been just over a month since captain Rosie Tonner and her Jets squad took to the court; however, they did not show any signs of rust.
Coach Emily Green and her new-look youthful Jets squad travelled to the UK to take on Titans Lightning on Saturday and ENC Equinox on Sunday, winning 62-28 and 67-39 respectively.
These wins leave Team Jets sitting comfortably in third place in Regional League 1, with four wins from their first four matches, two points off top-placed Hucclecote Comets, and one off Bristol Romans B, but with a game in hand over their rivals.
The Jets, missing key names at both ends of the court in star-shooter Leah Griffin and defensive-stalwart Becca Forrest, welcomed youth for this double-header in the extremely talented teenagers Grace Thomson and Florence Allo.
Skipper Tonner spoke after the two “ruthless” performances, saying: “It was a really successful weekend for us, especially with the youngsters stepping up in place of some real key names for us.
“Grace Thompson was particularly impressive at goal attack, considering she is only 15 years old.
“She has impressed through her age group for a long time now, but in stepping up to the first team, nothing phased her and she was well supported in the circle by the experienced Lily Jones and played an excellent role across the weekend.
“Flo [Allo] also did a great job coming on at goal keeper. Again, she is only 14 years old, so it was so pleasing to see her thrive and the youth in general come through in such style.
“With the introduction of the Team Jets 2 team this season, we are keen to offer these talented youngsters a clear pathway and this is a great step forwards for us to know these youngsters can thrive in this environment.”
Coach Emily Green echoed Tonner’s sentiments and expressed how impressed she was with the squad’s “relentless work ethic and high standards”.
“We speak so much about working in our units on court,” said Green.
“Considering the changed to the squad this season, we have been working really hard to help the new girls who have come in get up to speed with how we operate as quickly as possible.
“It’s all about the team and, importantly for us, focussing on ourselves and setting our own targets, rather than focussing on the opposition too much.”
People may look at the league table and assume Green and co had an easy weekend with both opponents being down the bottom of the table.
This is not the case however, as Green explains, both Titans and Equinox gave the Jets extremely tough tests last season.
“No game in this league is a given, Titans Lightning beat us last year and we drew with them in the return fixture,” Green continued.
“With the introduction of so many new and young players, one key thing we needed to make sure we managed well was the physicality from the other teams.
“In both games, the scoreline suggests we won comfortably, but the girls had to work extremely hard for it.
“I thought all over the court, we worked in our units beautifully across both games and thoroughly deserved both scorelines.
“I thought Rosie [Tonner] was just fantastic for us, it was a real captains performance. She dealt with the height disadvantage she was faced with superbly and her agility and distribution to the shooters was outstanding.
“Lily [Jones] and Grace [Thomson] as well in the attacking D were absolutely superb, we barely missed all weekend.
“With Grace having just turned 15 as well, she stepped up to the mark incredibly well and her link-up play with Lily was excellent.
“Compare that with the other end of the court where we had young Florence fitting in at Goal Keeper, both those youngsters read the game brilliantly and showed maturity above their years, which is a massive bonus for us all moving forwards knowing we can rely on them.
“Overall, a thoroughly ruthless and convincing weekend I would say. I was ver pleased with the work ethic despite the wide scorelines, which is something we have discussed.
“We spoke about wanting to play the sort of netball we would want against teams where the scoreline will be tighter, focus on our own goals and targets, which has been working really well for us.”
Team Jets next return to court for another double-header weekend on November 9 and 10 against both Bristol Romans A and Mavericks Eagles.
Team Jets Squad: Rosie Tonner (c), Lily Jones, Grace Thompson, Maddie Fitzgerald-Wilkins, Toni Chaytor, Nicole Goddard, Jodie Blampied, Molly Carre, Sam Salzone, Florence Allo
