By Chris Gubby
The team set off from Cardiff on one of the longest legs of the regional league to take on the Basingstoke Bulls.
The Cyclones fielded a strong eight, with Tyson and Wood stepping up ably to replace Campbell and Lloyd. Rose made a heroic return from illness, after spending the majority of Thursday and Friday emptying her bowels.
The sections were O’Sullivan, Gubby, Prosser and Rose, who began in attack, and Barbir, Wood, Jones and Tyson, who were defending an experienced Bulls section which had both height and pace. After a few tentative exchanges, Cyclones were first to strike with a confident mid range shot from Gubby. The pace of the Bulls girls then caught Cyclones knapping, and they responded quickly with a runner. After the change of ends, Jones hammered home a long shot, before the Bulls showed their potential by dropping one from an equal length. By this time though, the Cyclones had found their rhythm, and Rose secured a drop-off, before some neat work from Gubby and O’Sullivan drew a switch and allowed Gubby to steal a short one from close range. More goals followed from Tyson and Jones, and despite a penalty miss from Prosser, Cyclones were able to go in at half time 7-3 up following a mid range shot from Rose.
Cyclones came out firing in the second half and continued to dominate the game. After some good recycling at the post by Wood, Jones sunk a long shot, and then Barbir snatched one under the post after some sharp play and quick hands. Prosser then continued in the same vein, and with O’Sullivan feeding, crept in for a sneaky runner. Then the goal of the game, as Gubby beat his man to gather a loose ball, drew the switch and then made an around the back pass to O’Sullivan to nail the drop-off. Breathtaking stuff! After a few hard earned goals from the Bulls, Cyclones put the game out of reach with two massive long shots from both Jones and Tyson. More quick play from Gubby allowed him to claim a runner, and then put the final nail in the coffin with a long shot to make it 15-6.
This was a very convincing performance by the Cyclones, who have now made it four wins out of four in the regional league this year.