Team Bath lose out to Yorkshire Jets in close match
Team Bath battled hard but lost in a closely fought match to Yorkshire Jets, going down 51-54 in their third successive Superleague home defeat.
It was always going to be an uphill struggle for the home side after going down by ten goals in the opening six minutes of the match but they showed great character as they fought back to go ahead briefly in the third quarter even if they could not bring the game home in a thrilling final 15 minutes.
Coach Jess Thirlby said “It was a tight game, but once we had gone behind by ten, the game was lost in the opening six minutes. There were a lot more positives out there today over the remaining three quarters, but we still made the same mistake by letting the team go up by 10.
“We’re going to have to do some hard reflection and have some honest conversations. If we’re going to climb back up the ladder we need to beat some of these next few teams and reverse some of these early results.”
Captain Asha Francis said “Gutted is probably the right word, you cannot expect to win a game going 10-0 down at the beginning, we fought so hard and came so close and I think we definitely would have won it if we didn’t have that start.”
A rejuvenated Yorkshire Jets side with Lottysha Cato’s height and strength at GS, started strong.. After a first-quarter time out and some top shooting from Rosie Allison, Team Bath got back into the game and moved the score within reach at 10-17.
Thirlby made some changes going into the second quarter, which saw Bessie Manu and Mia Ritchie come on at goal-defence and wing attack and Team Bath brought the score back to 23-25 at half-time.
At the beginning of the third quarter the momentum stayed with Team Bath and with some stunning defensive play by Sam Cook and Stacey Francis, they went ahead for the first time 27-26. As the end of the quarter loomed, however, the Jets fought back hard and with some perfect high balls into Cato they took the lead by five goals.
Team Bath again came back to bring it to 45 -47 in the last seven minutes with Asha Francis making a good impact coming back on at goal-attack. With a fantastic interception by Sam Cook, it looked like the home team could go within one point but they couldn’t convert the turnover and after a closely fought last five minutes the Jets eventually took the win by three goals.
Sam Cook was named the Team Bath player of the match and received a bouquet from Bath Spa florists on court.
Team Bath’s next home match is on Friday 6th March against Loughborough Lightning.
Carter Jonas are Team Bath Netball’s property partner, Surridge are the Team Bath kit supplier and Skins provide the team with compression wear.
Team Bath
Starting Seven
GS: Rosie Allison, GA: Asha Francis (Captain) WA: Rachel Shaw, C: Kyra Jones, WD: Claire Brownie, GD: Stacey Francis, GK: Sam Cook
Bench: Shaunagh Craig, Mia Ritchie, Bessie Manu, Lauren Dent, Yasmin Parsons, Jenna Murie
The Full 2015 Team Bath Netball Superleague squad is:
Rosie Allison, Sam Cook, Bessie Manu, Mia Ritchie, Scarlett Williams, Jenna Murie, Rachel Shaw, Lauren Dent, Claire Brownie, Asha Francis, Kyra Jones, Jazz Scott, Stacey Francis, Shaunagh Craig, Yasmin Parsons.
Coach: Jess Garland, Assistant coach: Denis Ellis
Yorkshire Jets
Starting seven
GS: Lottysha Cato, GA: N Smith, WA: N Haythomwaite, C: J Shaw WD: S Butters, GD: L Potter (Captain), GK: T Keenan
Bench: M Clark, B Grierson,, B Skingsley, L Walker, S Wilson
Quarter scores (Team Bath first):
Q1: 10-17 Q2: 13-8 (23-25) Q3: 14-17 (37-42); Q4: 14-12 (51-54)
