Bermuda netball team captain Debré Evans and vice-captain Kianté Lightbourne have viewed the 72-32 defeat by Canada this morning as a learning experience for the side.

The Longtails, who beat Sint Maarten 42-30 and Sint Eustatius 59-29 to make a perfect start to the Battle of the Isles yesterday, were handed their first loss of the tournament by the Canadians.

“The result this morning speaks to us learning more about how to manage our bodies and emotions in a way that allows us to continue to play at our top level in every game,” Lightbourne told The Royal Gazette.

“We played the last match of the day yesterday and the first match this morning. Collectively, I don’t think we allowed ourselves to move beyond that quick enough and switch back into game mode.

“We do have to take positives from that game, though. We got some court time with different combinations and were able to learn more about how they play to be better prepared next time.

“We started strong in the tournament; the first two games showed us that we can dig deep and turn things around in our favour.”

Evans spoke of the challenges faced by the team in coping with the physical demands of playing two matches on the same day.

“The loss to Canada was tough; we all knew as a collective it would be a very rough game,” the captain said.

“Everyone is really struggling with the two matches every day, especially as physicality was at an all-time high. We return back to the drawing board to figure out where we all went wrong and how to do better.”

Bermuda players and coaches had time to strategise for their next encounter when they embarked on the ferry ride to Sint Maarten, where the rest of the action is taking place until Sunday. The Longtails face Guadeloupe in their fourth match tonight (8pm Bermuda time).

“We travelled over to Sint Maarten this afternoon and have to lock back in for the next match against Guadeloupe,” Lightbourne added.

“We are obviously disappointed with the loss, but ready to redeem ourselves.”