<text> Dunfermline Reign ladies had their hopes of claiming a first national trophy dashed by Lothian League rivals Polonia Phoenix on Sunday.

Coach John Day and his players were poleaxed in Paisley as their much more experienced opponents enjoyed a 64-39 victory to lift the women's Chairman's Cup, a competition for teams competing outwith the national league set up.

Catherine Millar top scored for Reign with 11 points in a clash that was competitive but Polonia built a commanding lead in each quarter of the game.

A nightmare start for the young Dunfermline side saw them trail 6-0 after three minutes as they ended the first quarter 22-12 behind, a deficit that they could not recover from.

But with a Lothian League Cup semi-final looming against Midlothian Saints on Monday night, Day told Press Sport, 'The difference in the game I felt was experience.

'They had players who have played in big finals before whereas this was the first for our players.

'Although they beat us in each quarter, they did it by 10 points in the first, then four in the second and third and seven in the fourth, so they were doing enough to get away from us but we were competitive.

'It was a great experience for the girls with the flashing lights, the team announcements, playing on a huge court and in front of the fans.

'As much as nobody likes to lose, that was the main thing and it's important that we don't dwell on it because we've got a big semi-final next week.' He added, 'We had a good training session on Monday and spoke about the game.

'We're feeling confident but we'll be in a similar situation to Sunday where our players will be smaller but faster.

'They've got a bit more experience and when we played them earlier in the season, we were leading for most of the game but they scored some late shots and beat us by six.

'We have to make sure that we keep our concentration and put all our good play together for the full 40 minutes.' Tip off for the match at Newbattle High School, Dalkeith, is at 7.45pm.

</text> <text> Dunfermline Reign ladies had their hopes of claiming a first national trophy dashed by Lothian League rivals Polonia Phoenix on Sunday.

Coach John Day and his players were poleaxed in Paisley as their much more experienced opponents enjoyed a 64-39 victory to lift the women's Chairman's Cup, a competition for teams competing outwith the national league set up.

Catherine Millar top scored for Reign with 11 points in a clash that was competitive but Polonia built a commanding lead in each quarter of the game.

A nightmare start for the young Dunfermline side saw them trail 6-0 after three minutes as they ended the first quarter 22-12 behind, a deficit that they could not recover from.

But with a Lothian League Cup semi-final looming against Midlothian Saints on Monday night, Day told Press Sport, 'The difference in the game I felt was experience.

'They had players who have played in big finals before whereas this was the first for our players.

'Although they beat us in each quarter, they did it by 10 points in the first, then four in the second and third and seven in the fourth, so they were doing enough to get away from us but we were competitive.

'It was a great experience for the girls with the flashing lights, the team announcements, playing on a huge court and in front of the fans.

'As much as nobody likes to lose, that was the main thing and it's important that we don't dwell on it because we've got a big semi-final next week.' He added, 'We had a good training session on Monday and spoke about the game.

'We're feeling confident but we'll be in a similar situation to Sunday where our players will be smaller but faster.

'They've got a bit more experience and when we played them earlier in the season, we were leading for most of the game but they scored some late shots and beat us by six.

'We have to make sure that we keep our concentration and put all our good play together for the full 40 minutes.' Tip off for the match at Newbattle High School, Dalkeith, is at 7.45pm.

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