Rising star Fraser shines on senior debut

WARWICKSHIRE Bears' women's team endured a tough weekend when they travelled to Nottingham to play the second round of fixtures in the BWB Women's League.

With the absence of their influential forward, Sharleen Honey, it was always going to be a challenge for the newly-promoted Bears.

The weekend also saw the debut of Bears' rising star Ellan Fraser, who was at last eligible to play in the senior game.

The first game up for the Bears was Blackhawks Women, with a very strong team. Although putting up a tremendous challenge, the Bears were outgunned 50-14.

Next up for the Bears was a rematch against Worcester Wolves, a team they played in the previous weekend of fixtures.

Wolves, including GB Paralympian Jordanna Bartlett, showed their class and claimed a comfortable 37-20 success over the Bears, who fought all the way through the contest.

Sunday's opener was a tough game against Angels of the North 2, who also featured some ex-GB stars.

Despite a dedicated and driven performance, the Bears could not stop Angels' strong offence, with the game finishing 53-28.

Bears then went on to win a friendly game against Scottish Women Warriors 28-16, thanks to superb displays from both Anna Turney and Ellan Fraser.

They saved their best performance until last when they faced Leicester Cobras.

After losing yet another member of their team to injury, the Bears were down to the bare bones and were in possession of a limited bench.

With the previous victory and with more game experience under their belt, the Bears were a much tougher and organised team. Bears stuck close to the Cobras throughout, but ran out of steam in the last quarter, going down 37-23.

The game also saw young Fraser emerge as the leading scorer for Bears with 11 points.

“I can’t express how proud of the girls I’m am at the moment," said coach, Tom Masterson.

"At no time did I see any of their heads dropping. It was a hard weekend for injuries and results, and just shows us that we must keep trying to recruit new players and keep training together as a team.

"I have to make a special mention of young Ellan Fraser. She was brilliant in all our games and to finish as our leading scorer just shows how much talent she has.”