Sovereigns were bolstered by the return of captain Demelza Fellowes who provided some much-needed experience to a side that has been hit hard by injury.

Kayla Hughes (ankle reconstruction) will miss the season while Erin Riley (fractured finger) and Andrea Tai (calf) missed the weekend’s clash in which young gun Sacha McDonald tweaked her ankle.

However, an impressive display was delivered by the club’s youth with the incoming players executing very well and impressing coach Joh Curran

“It was pleasing to see the young kids we’ve brought do the job really well. From that point of view it was an impressive performance, everyone played their role and what we’ve been trying to implement,” Curran said.

“We’ve had a bit of a rough trot with injuries.

“When you look out on the court and you see that youth out there, the fact that they performed so well...they’re doing really well, I’m really pleased as a coach.”

Curran said list management was key at this stage of the season given its lengthy injury list. However, she said that bringing players up from division one had been a smooth transition given the sides are very familiar with each other after plenty of combined training sessions.

“For us it’s been about list management, but it does definitely provide those opportunities to bring in those young girls who we’ve all had an eye on. The fact that they’re doing so well is really pleasing.

“We’ve been training as a big group. Which has made a great difference, as I said we had to bring Chloe (Wilson) up, but it’s no big deal because they’re consistently training together.”

The division one side also registered victory. After going down by one goal last week, Sunday saw the group on the right side of a nail-biter, winning 46-45.

Sovereigns led by 10 goals early in the last quarter before Ariels came storming back into the contest. However, it managed to hold to get its first win of the season.

“Division one has had a really solid pre-season, I’m really impressed with their commitment, there’s always a solid cohort of division one girls at training.

“The other team got the momentum towards the end of the game, but it was great for them to hang on and win by a goal.”

The 19/unders lost 55-34.