Hertfordshire Mavericks sent out a message that there are not only two teams in this year’s Co-operative netball Superleague with a 10 point win over second place TeamBath. This week’s recorded TV game saw TeamBath lose for the first time in six Superleague encounters after a match filled with errors from the home side.
The Mavericks started strongly, and midway through the first half led 7-4. TeamBath fought back though, levelling the score at 8-8 before scoring once more before the end of the quarter to lead by one. It was the first and last time they were ahead in the game.
Jess Garland, TeamBath’s Head Coach, brought on Asha Tett at goal attack in the second quarter, but the change made little difference as the Mavericks continued to dominate, finishing the half with a 22-17 lead.
Garland made further changes in the third quarter, moving Cookey to goal shooter. Both shooters missed several chances, paving the way for the Mavericks to extend their lead. Their GA and GS managed to take the chances they got, ending the game with a final score line of 44-34.
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Maggie Jackson, Head Coach of Hertfordshire Mavericks, said “I’m really, really pleased with the win and with all the players stepping up and taking responsibility.
“We were mobile in attack to give us options but all the team worked really hard to contain what Team Bath love to do which is to attack. They all did their jobs superbly. Everyone stepped up and took responsibility for the result.
“Rotating the squad across the season has paid off, but now it’s back to business as usual.”
Unsurprisingly Garland was not quite so pleased. “We weren’t good enough. There were too many errors and Mavericks penalised us for those. They were better than us on the day.”
TeamBath must quickly recover from the defeat as they have a busy weekend in store, facing Celtic Dragons away on Saturday before returning home to meet Superleague leaders Surrey Storm on Sunday afternoon.
Rachel Stansfield, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
