South Coast Blaze secure valuable Premier League points against Manly-Warringah Sapphires

In the under 23s fixture, it was always destined to be a tight match-up, with both sides coming into the game tied in equal-third on the ladder.

The Blaze got out to an early 5-3 lead following defensive turnovers and then goals from Ky-Mani Schwenke and Mia Evans.

Manly was quick to capitalise on errors and caught back up, to level the scores at 5-all.

Bronnee Loy showed strong defensive pressure, as the Blaze moved the ball moved easily down court when in possession.

A crucial intercept by Aimee Landrigan with three minutes left in the quarter delivered the ball to Schwenke, who rewarded her with a goal - as South Coast led 11-9.

Sharnee Behr then came on as goal-defence and made an immediate impact, intercepting the ball.

Manly again capitalised on minor errors in the Blaze attacking end, pegging back two goals to make it 11-all.

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With seconds to go, Behr made a crucial tip and the Blaze progressed the ball down court with urgency and scored on the buzzer, to hold a 12-11 advantage at the first break.

The second quarter saw Abbey Baker come on in the centre position, as whole court defensive pressure by the Blaze forced Manly to make errors.

Solid connections between Evans and Schwenke in the goal circle saw Blaze move to 15-13 lead early in the quarter.

The teams went goal-for-goal for most of the second quarter, as Loy returned to the centre position with minutes remaining in the quarter - with the two sides level at 24-all at the main break.

The third quarter saw a number of positional changes, with Annalise Chadrawy coming on as goal-keeper, Emily Dunn moving to goal-attack, Baker back on at wing-attack and Jessica Bowden to wing-defence.

The Blaze had an early turnover in the attacking end, but Annalise Chadrawy recovered with an intercept before Dunn was rewarded after a spectacular rebound off her own shot.

Manly capitalised on early the Blaze's errors, with South Coast falling behind by two goals early in the third quarter.

Dunn scored following an intercept by Bowden to level the score again at 29-all, before the Blaze made Manly pay for several errors - creeping ahead to 31-29 when Selene Chadrawy came on as centre.

She immediately intercepted the ball and Schwenke scored to extend the lead to 35-32.

Selene Chadrawy again tipped the ball and it was cleaned up by Annalise Chadrawy.

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Wayward passes from the Blaze let Manly back into the game before Schwenke's score on the buzzer put South Coast up 36-34 heading into the final period

The final quarter again saw numerous changes, with Loy back on as wing-attack, Behr moved out to wing-defence and Aimee Landrigan as goal-defence.

Selene Chadrawy secured an early intercept and Dunn scored to take the lead out to 38-34.

Following further defensive pressure and an intercept by Behr, the Blaze pushed the lead out further to 44-38.

Chloe Burden joined the game as goal-keep, with Bowden back on as goal-defence and Evans as goal-attack.

Manly commenced a fightback, bringing the margin back to two goals but a flying intercept by Behr led to Schwenke restoring the three-goal buffer - which is had it ended 47-44.

In the open's game, with both teams sitting next to each other on the ladder, it was always going to be a tight contest.

Both teams saw early turnovers thanks to their defensive ends, with the game going goal-for-goal until some costly errors from the Blaze saw Manly take an early 5-2 lead.

The Blaze failed to capitalise on turnovers being made by Te-Arn Bradley and Tegan Holland in the defensive end, however, South Coast was moving the ball with speed through the midcourt - with nice ball movement between Abbey McFadden and Kristina Brice bringing the score to 7-5.

Midway through the first quarter, Kayla Johnson came on as wing-defence and Katelyn Begley as centre.

Manly capitalised on minor errors from the Blaze to extend its lead to 16-12 at quarter-time.

The second quarter saw Elecia Parrott return to wind-defence.

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Intercepts by the Blaze's defensive end, including Parrott's quick hands around the circle edge, again secured turnovers for South Coast.

However wayward passes at the attacking end failed to turn those into goals.

Shelby Mallon came on as goal-attack early in the second quarter, making an immediate impact with an intercept bringing the score back to 21-19.

Passing errors again saw Manly extend its margin to five goals, however Holland and Bradley's rebounding in the defensive end, together with a buzzer-beater from Brice, reigned that back in with the Blaze trailing 31-29 at half-time.

The resumption brought no changes to the lineup and the game again went goal-for-goal.

Errors from both teams saw the ball go back and forth for some time, with Manly eventually creeping out to a 36-32 lead.

With 10 minutes remaining, Johnson returned to the wing-defence position and made an immediate impact with an intercept.

With just over seven minutes remaining, Danielle Di Bartolo came on as goal-attack.

Strong rebounding by Bradley and Holland led to Brice rewarding them with goals - reducing the deficit to just two goals.

Sneaky passing between Di Bartolo and Brice saw the Blaze continue to hang in there.

Holland again came up with a crucial intercept but wayward passes in the midcourt gave the ball back to Manly, who led by three goals at the final break.

Heading into the final quarter, Chaise Vassallo returned to centre and McFadden to goal-attack.

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Early defensive pressure from the Blaze midcourters saw the margin again reduced to two goals, 48-46.

Despite intercepts by Holland and errors from Manly, the Blaze attacking end just couldn't convert them into goals.

With three minutes remaining, Manly looked to be pushing its lead out when Taylah Davies took a crucial intercept.

At 56-54, the Blaze turned the ball over in the attacking end but Holland rebounded a wayward shot from Manly and sent the ball down the McFadden who scored to make it a one-goal game.

Goals to Manly and McFadden took the score to 57-56 before Johnson came up with an intercept and the ball got down to Brice - who levelled it up at 57-all with 30 seconds remaining.

It was a Blaze centre pass, with the mid-courters again getting the ball to Brice, who gave South Coast a one-goal lead with time ticking away.

But Manly managed to score in the final seconds, as the match ended in a 58-all draw.

On Wednesday, the 5-3 under 23s side, who sit in third spot, take on the Central Coast Heart from 7pm before the open's take on the same opponents from 8.45pm.

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