TABLE-TOPPING Tilehurst Royal British Legion lost for the first time in three seasons as they were edged out 47-44 by Nexus.

The leaders’ GS Lorraine Hancock found early form as her side surged into a four-goal advantage, and with their GA Laura Gier-Jones also shooting, TRBL finished the second quarter with a 26-21 advantage.

Yet Nexus – inspired by their player of the match C Kate Fletcher – fought back and GA Natalie Tucker and GS Laura Byrne began to hit the target repeatedly, despite strong defence from GD Natalie Stacy and star player GK Rachel Caswell.

And they were eventually able to move in front and hold on for a famous victory.

Elsewhere, Netchix were victorious 19-14 in their game with Sweaty Nettys.

Both teams came out fighting with some fast-paced attacking play at the start, but a quick turnover from Netchix resulted in them leading 5-3 at the end of the first quarter.

Sweaty Nettys settled into the game in the second quarter with some excellent long-range shooting from GS Amy Chesswas and great movement from GA Megan Johnson.

With both teams turning over the centre passes due to some excellent interceptions in centre court, particularly from Sweaty Netty’s WD and C (Emma Moore and Melissa Johnson), Netchix led 8-7 at the interval.

Good work from WA Cath Venning and WD Kelly Bilver-stone settled Netchix back into the game during the third quarter, and they had a 14-11 lead by the end of the stanza.

Netchix pulled away in the final quarter with some excellent shooting by player of the match GA Saskia Hocking and GS Deb Fisher.

The relatively low score reflected the excellent defensive play from both teams. GK and GD from Sweaty Nettys – Leonie Bennett and Olivia James – made it very difficult for Netchix to get balls into the circle, forcing them to try some risky passes.

Meanwhile Netchix GK and GD, Seema Ahmed and Claire Keeling, worked well together, getting some excellent rebounds and quickly clearing the ball.