Team Bath maintain 100 per cent record in Showdown
Team Bath maintained their 100 per cent record in the Netball Superleague Showdown with a hard-fought 60-48 victory over Celtic Dragons in Newport last night (Monday).
Team Bath had to battle back from three goals down at the halfway mark to take the victory and end Dragons’ five-game winning streak.
And they did it in style, taking the third quarter 18-8 and the final quarter 16-11 to establish a 12-goal winning margin.
That means Team Bath currently top the Showdown table with Celtic Dragons in second place, setting things up nicely for the return fixture, when Team Bath host Dragons at the University of Bath Sports Training Village on Monday (29 April) night.
Jess Thirlby, Team Bath head coach, said: “Obviously it was a really positive outcome in the end. We had to work really hard in the first half and we expected that against Dragons because of the momentum they had going into the game.
“Defensively we got better and better as the same went on and ultimately that’s what made the difference in the second half.
“Attacking wise we had moments of brilliance, but we know we have to keep up that type of pressure in the next couple of matches.”
Coach Thirlby switched things around at the halfway mark with Stacey Francis moving to goal defence and Samantha Cook going to goal keeper, and with Mia Ritchie going to wing defence and Serena Guthrie centre.
Thirlby says she expects another tough game from Dragons in the televised fixture at the University of Bath on Monday night.
“It’s a really big one for us,” she said. “They’re going to want to come out and reverse that result, but being at home should give us that extra push to start off where we finished on Monday night.
“Having a big crowd at home makes a real difference to us so hopefully our supporters will turn out in force,” she added.
Team Bath have a great buy one get one free ticket offer for Monday night’s fixture, which will be shown ‘as live’ on Sky Sports later in the week. For further information go to http://www.teambath.com/sport/netball/superleague/
Quarter scores (Team Bath second): Q1:13- 13, Q2: 16-13 (29-26), Q3: 8-18 (37-44), Q4: 11-16 (48-60)
Starting sevens
Celtic Dragons: GS Lottysha Cato, GA Emma Thomas, WA Suzy Drane, C Cathy Bastian, WD Jenna Murie, GD Stephanie Williams, GK Sara Hale
TeamBath: GS Kadeen Corbin, GA Pamela Cookey, WA Asha Francis, C Mia Ritchie, WD Serena Guthrie GD Samantha Cook, GK Stacey Francis
Shooting statistics
Celtic Dragons: Lottysha Cato: 38 from 45 (84 per cent), Emma Thomas 8 from 9 (89 per cent)
TeamBath: Pamela Cookey 30 from 33 (91 per cent), Kadeen Corbin 30 from 37 (81 per cent)
You can find out more about Team Bath on our website teambath.com
You can also follow Team Bath on Twitter at twitter.com/teambath or facebook.com/teambath
For further information please contact the Team Bath press office at Matchtight Ltd on 01225 383518.
