Vitality Netball Superleague | Wasps’ Mansfield: “We’ll certainly come back fighting”

Wasps in a team huddle at the Grand Final

Wasps Netball fell just short of a historic third successive league title in a 57-52 loss against Manchester Thunder at the Copper Box Arena.

It marked the first season the Black and Golds have missed out on the title since joining the Vitality Netball Superleague.

Mel Mansfield’s side led going into the fourth-quarter but Thunder produced a perfect final 15 minutes to secure their third title and first since 2014.

Mansfield said: “It didn’t quite happen for us. We played well in quarters one and three but we needed to play better for longer.

“There were huge momentum shifts in the game, we started strongly but Thunder made very few errors and we found it really difficult to win ball.

“I was really pleased after half-time with the response but we made a couple of crucial errors in the final quarter which ended up being really important.

“It’s been a hugely enjoyable season and today didn’t change that, this group is fantastic and they kept battling right to the end.

“We’ve still got an incredible team and set-up at Wasps and we’ll certainly come back fighting next season.”