Mavericks record back-to-back home wins

With both sides looking for their second win of the season, this game promised to be an impassioned contest. However, Mavericks were dominant throughout as a Welsh side weakened in offence by injury were unable to challenge.

Saracens Mavericks reaped the rewards of starting with the same seven they’ve begun the last few games with. Connections between the players looked intuitive across the court and the home side established a comfortable nine-goal lead after the first quarter.

The Hertfordshire side extended their lead in the second quarter as players worked hard in every third. The visitors from Cardiff made a defensive substitution to frustrate Ine-Mari Venter and Kira Rothwell, but to no avail. With a thirteen-goal lead at half time an energised home crowd eagerly anticipated a second half display.

In the third quarter A,liyah Zaranyika took a break and co-captain Beth Ecuyer-Dale took to the mid-court. Aided by some stand-out feeds into the circle by Sasha Corbin, the black and reds stretched the lead to seventeen goals after 45 minutes of play.

Monique Meyer, later awarded Version2 Player of the Match, continued her defensive masterclass in the final quarter before subbing off for Christina Shaw. Quarter 4 also saw Britney Clarke and Georgia Lees on court as they too helped their side to a convincing second home victory.

Head Coach, Camilla Buchanan, was pleased with the win but can see room for growth: "Very happy with the three points today. Very happy with how we’re building and how we’ve grown from day one.

"I felt at times like we put our foot on the accelerator which we said we were capable of doing and we said that we needed to do that consistently against Dragons who we targeted as a must-win.

"Some of our basic errors crept in today so those things need to be fixed because we’re not going to be afforded leg room in the future.

"Keeping our foot on the accelerator consistently is something that we need to learn how to do.

"Our connections in the attack end are getting stronger. Defensively that’s the first time we’ve played a rotational circle this season and I was really pleased with how Jodie and Monique worked that circle. I think Monique was outstanding today in terms of one-on-one pressure and some of the balls she came out with.

"There were pockets of brilliance today and, as I’m sure every coach in the league is probably saying at the moment, we need to learn how to string them together for longer periods of time.”

Mavericks’ coach summarised: “We’ll bank the good bits, we’ll learn from the tricky bits and move onto the next game.”

After a busy nine days Mavericks can enjoy a break from league matches. Mavericks will play men’s side, England Thorns, at home next Saturday before travelling up to Glasgow to face Strathclyde Sirens on 17 March. Mavericks will be looking to add another three points north of the border to bolster their hopes of a top four finish in the 2023 Netball Super League.

Match Report provided by Saracens Mavericks.