Saracens Mavericks 61
Severn Stars 45
This Saturday saw Stars heading across to face Saracens Mavericks for the second time in three weeks. The two met each other in the season opener at Arena Birmingham, where despite a fantastic start, Mavericks were victorious.
Slight changes to the team saw Lucy Herdman get her first start of the season taking the GS bib. After a productive few training sessions and strong performance vs Manchester Thunder under their belt, Stars were ready to right the wrongs from the previous battle with Saracens Mavericks.
Both teams were quick out of the blocks and the rapid pace was set from the first whistle. Despite a steady few goals from GA, Paige Reed, and flying intercept from Ella Powell-Davies, Mavericks were quick to hit back; each goal spurred on by their home crowd. The end of the first quarter saw the home team lead, with the score finishing at 8 – 19; Stars would need to ignite a spark to get themselves back into this.
The subsequent quarters saw multiple changes, with Coach Bessell making full use of her squad of 10. Stars defensive unit earnt the team multiple turnovers, notably Malawian Queen, Towera Vinkhumbo, with her trademark fly out from the circle. Stars found their flow again during the third quarter, bringing the deficit back to only 7 goals. Heading into the final 15 minutes, despite each and every player putting their body on the line, Stars had left it too little to late.
Stars Vice Captain Nia Jones said “ It’s annoying because in contrast to round 1, our first quarter really let us down today. We were chasing the game and even though the next three were competitive, we left ourselves with too much to do”. Coach Melissa Bessell also reflects, “Our first Quarter today was not how we wanted to start. We did not take full advantage of our turnovers to goal. The game was lost in the first quarter and every other quarter afterwards was fairly contested but just not enough to pull it back”.
Ultimately after a slow start, Stars left themselves with a little too much to do in order to get back into the game. Improvements had certainly been made from the previous encounter, however Mavericks physicality on the day along with our own errors still leaves us with plenty to work on for when we meet them again in round 12. We now look ahead to our next home game against Wasps Netball at 6pm on March 14. Tickets are available at www.severnstars.co.uk. See you there!
Q1: 19 – 8 Q2: 34 – 22 Q3: 46 – 34 Q4: 61 – 45
Squad: A.Abgeze, T.Vinkhumbo, Vice Captain N.Jones, E.Powell-Davies, L.Harris, B.Dyke, Captain L.Leota, P.Reed, L.Herdman, G.Rowe
Photo credit – Steve Porter
