Team Bath Netball had a sell-out crowd fully behind them in their first home match of the 2024 Super League season but it was in-form Severn Stars who took the spoils with a ruthless 72-44 victory.
The visitors demonstrated why they are among the league’s early pacesetters as they fully capitalised on Team Bath errors to put together unbroken scoring streaks in each quarter and take the game away from the Blue & Gold.
Team Bath were roared on all the way by a 1,700-strong crowd, though, and, inspired by a Most Valuable Player display from captain Bethan Dyke, once again produced some promising periods of play but were unable to build any sustained momentum against strong opposition.
Head Coach Asha Francis said: “Again, like last week against Loughborough, there were some really good patches during the game. It’s just about what we have talked about previously, finding the consistency to perform across 15 minutes and then the full hour.
“The fans were great. Every time we turned over the ball or scored a goal there was a massive roar. They were fab and we really appreciated that support.”
Team Bath went with the same starting combination for a third successive game, which meant Super League home debuts for University of Bath student Ellie Ervine and Australian shooter Sloan Burton.
In a match sponsored by King Edward’s School Bath, the hosts got off to a nervy start as in-form Stars raced into a 5-1 lead but a Jayda Pechova interception fired up the capacity crowd and Team Bath fed off the noise to storm back into the contest with five goals in a row.
The errors started to creep back in, though, and Stars took full advantage as the ruthless Sigi Burger scored 10 of the game’s next 11 goals to turn a 6-5 deficit into a comfortable 15-7 advantage.
The gap remained at eight goals going into the break, Stars leading 18-10, and the teams continued to go goal for goal in the early stages of the second quarter before the visitors once again stamped their authority on the game as Burger scored eight without reply.
Francis was continually switching things up, introducing players off the bench and rotating positions, as Team Bath looked for a way back into the contest and they scored the last two goals of the half through Kadeen Corbin to reduce the deficit to 37-22.
Team Bath needed a strong start to the third quarter but it was Stars who scored five of the first six goals. The hosts continued to battle away and capitalised on a couple of well-earned turnovers to cut the gap to 43-29 but they were unable to maintain that momentum and trailed 56-33 going into the last quarter.
Home debutants Emma Barrie and Lisa Putt were among the players introduced as Team Bath made wholesale changes to their line-up but Stars came out flying for the final 15 minutes and rattled off seven unanswered goals.
The crowd were still in good voice, though, and greeted every Team Bath goal with a huge cheer including the last two of the game from Barrie which made the final score 72-44 in Stars’ favour.
Just a handful of tickets remain for Team Bath’s next home match against London Pulse on Friday 8th March and less than 200 are available for the fixture against Saracens Mavericks on Friday 15th March (both centre-pass 5.30pm) – go to netball.teambath.com/tickets to purchase.
Team Bath Netball is supported by Bath Building Society and Rengen Developments, who are both overall Team Bath Partners. Flyhawk supply Team Bath’s performance clothing and off-court apparel.
Match stats
Team Bath Netball starting combination: GS Sloan Burton, GA Sophie Kelly, WA Bethan Dyke, C Phoebe Maslen, WD Ellie Ervine, GD Tash Pavelin, GK Jayda Pechova. Impact players: Emma Barrie, Lily-May Catling, Kadeen Corbin, Kirsty Harris, Lisa Putt.
Severn Stars starting combination: GS Impact players: GS Sigi Burger, GA Suzie Liverseidge, WA Jess Shaw, C Gabby Marshall, WD Niamh Cooper, GD Jo Trip, GK Jasmine Brown. Impact players: Rebekah Airey, Betsy Creak, Ashleigh Dekker, Ella Powell-Davies, Lefebre Rademan.
Quarter scores (Team Bath first): Q1 10-18. Q2 22-37 (12-19). Q3 33-56 (11-19). Q4 44-72 (11-16).
Attendance: 1,700.
Team Bath Fans’ MVP: Bethan Dyke.
With thanks to Team Bath
