Team Bath Netball 62 – 66 Saracens Mavericks

The Blue & Gold treated a 1,300-strong home crowd to some excellent netball and were good value for their 35-31 lead at half-time. 

Mavericks, inspired by wing defence Aliyah Zaranyika, fought back strongly during an absorbing second half and edged ahead again for the first time since the eighth minute of the match to sneak the win. 

A nervy start to the game from Team Bath saw Mavericks force four early turnovers but strong defending from Jayda Pechova and captain Lily-May Catling meant they were only able to convert one of them. 

The visitors held a narrow advantage until midway through the quarter when Kadeen Corbin intercepted a loose pass and exchanged passes with Ali Wilshier before feeding Betsy Creak to level the scores at 9-9. 

That fired up the home players and fans, switching the momentum firmly in Team Bath’s favour and they went on to score six of the next seven goals. 

Team Bath were fizzing the ball around with growing confidence and a Creak goal on the buzzer ensured they went into the break with a 19-14 lead. 

The second quarter started goal for goal before a flying tip from Imogen Allison allowed Team Bath to stretch their advantage.  

They moved eight goals clear at one stage but the introduction of Christina Shaw to the Mavericks defence, plus errors from the home side, saw the visitors enjoy their best spell of the game. 

They went on to score nine of the next 11 goals to close the gap to 32-31 and had the chance to draw level but a fantastic intercept from Pechova ensured that didn’t happen and Team Bath were able to score the last three goals of the quarter to lead 35-31 at half-time. 

After Bath moved six goals head, back came Mavericks to cut the gap to two but strong defence from Lily-May Catling denied them the chance to equalise as the scores remained at 52-50 going into the final quarter. 

An error-strewn start to the last period by Team Bath saw that advantage quickly wiped out before a brave piece of play from Allison inspired a quickfire burst of three goals for the hosts. 

The lead was 60-57 but Mavericks did not go away and they once again fought back to level before, with just less than five minutes on the clock, they were finally able to edge ahead. 

Team Bath looked to respond but conceded possession as they tried to force the play and Mavericks took full advantage to complete their comeback and see out a hard-earned win.