Vitality Superleague 2018 – 4 The Love Of Sport

Emma Dovey to lead Thunder for the third season

Jennie Powell — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 16:15:12 +0000

Experienced Manchester Thunder defender Emma Dovey has signed up to play for the Black and Yellows in 2019.

Emma Dovey (Photo: Mark Pritchard)

Dovey, 27, will lead Thunder in her third season as captain.

The Lancashire-born player’s form in recent Superleague seasons has earned her a call-up to the England Roses Fast5 World Series squad, with the tournament taking place in Australia at the end of the month.

Dovey, who has played at Thunder for her whole senior career, took over the captaincy from Sara Bayman in 2016.

She said: “I’m back again! I’m really looking forward to this season, my third as captain.

“I’m looking forward to playing again with some of our old faces and hope to see you all down at Belle Vue, our new home arena.”

Manchester Thunder managing director Debbie Hallas said: “We were keen to get Emma back in the Thunder dress for next season as her experience and leadership is a vital component in making the squad gel together.

“She’s been loyal to Thunder for so long and I’m sure the fans will be happy to see her back.”

Courtesy of Manchester Thunder

Cardwell returns to Thunder

Jennie Powell — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 08:33:22 +0000

Manchester Thunder have re-signed Eleanor Cardwell from Severn Stars to complete a sensational double swoop.

Cardwell joins Stars team-mate Laura Malcolm in returning to the club which saw her rise through the ranks from youth level to the Superleague.

The 23-year-old England Roses shooter will play for the Black and Yellows once again for the 2019 season, after spending two years with Midlands-based Stars.

“I’m so excited to be back in the Thunder dress this coming season,” Cardwelll said.

“I’m ready to hit the season hard and as a team, let’s challenge for the title.”

Cardwell leaves Stars as their starting shooter and has seen her international stock rise in recent years.

The Lancashire-born shooter will join up with the England Roses squads this autumn, for both the Fast5 Series in Australia and the International Tests against Jamaica.

Manchester Thunder managing director Debbie Hallas said: “We’re delighted to have Eleanor back at Thunder for next season.

“She has become one of the best shooters in the Superleague during her time at Stars and we’re looking forward to seeing what she can do back in the Thunder colours.”

Courtesy of Manchester Thunder

Plenty of home cheer as Team Bath Netball quell Storm

Jennie Powell — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 00:16:08 +0000

Team Bath Netball maintained their 100 per cent record for the 2018 Vitality Netball Superleague season by beating Surrey Storm in front of a delighted home crowd on Friday.

In their first match this year at the Team Bath Arena, the Sitec-sponsored Blue and Gold were pegged back to 12-12 at the end of a fluctuating first quarter before giving a sell-out crowd of 1,420 supporters plenty to cheer during a stunning second period.

With the defensive trio of Eboni Beckford-Chambers, player of the match Layla Guscoth and Imogen Allison dominating the opposition, Kadeen Corbin and Sophie Drakeford-Lewis were able to convert the numerous turnovers as Team Bath stormed into a 32-20 lead at half-time.

Storm battled away in the second half but the damage had been done and Team Bath went on to record a 60-44 victory, their third win of the fledgling campaign.

Anna Stembridge, Team Bath Netball Superleague Head Coach, said: “We’re pleased to get the win, we knew Storm would come out hard and make it tough for us so credit to them tonight but we put in a good performance. I thought Imo was absolutely outstanding.

“Thank you to everyone here tonight for their support, we love playing in this Arena and we are really happy to get that result for the fans.”

Guscoth added: “It was a tough game today, physical for both teams and Storm really brought it. We’ve got a really good group here this year and everyone is working really hard.

“We were all so excited about our first home game and it was great to hear the noise, so thanks to everyone who turned out.”

The Blue and Gold raced into a 3-0 lead inside the opening two minutes before being pegged back to all square, setting the tone for an opening quarter that saw momentum ebb and flow.

Team Bath twice restored their three-goal, with Corbin and Drakeford-Lewis – making her first start in Blue and Gold – forging a slick combination in attack, but Storm responded both times and levelled the scores at 12-12 going into the second period.

Visiting shooter Sigi Burger gave Storm the lead for the first time but, after Team Bath had responded with four in quick succession, she collided heavily with the post and had to be replaced by Charmaine Baard.

While Storm readjusted, Team Bath took full advantage to really impose themselves on the game. With Guscoth making a series of inspirational intercepts and Beckford-Chambers in dominant mood, they turned over possession regularly and forged into a commanding lead before two goals from the returning Burger closed the gap to 32-20 at half-time.

Storm made wholesale changes at the break while Team Bath introduced Chelsea Lewis at GS and she quickly found her range, scoring with her first five attempts as the hosts pulled further clear.

The visitors kept battling away, though, and closed the gap back to ten goals before a stunning turnover from Allison – not her first or last of the evening – got the Blue and Gold players and crowd firing again.

They went on to take a 44-29 lead into the final quarter but Storm, with Katie Harris switched to GS and Rhea Dixon on at GA, ensured that the Blue and Gold could not rest on their laurels during a hard-fought last 15 minutes.

Paige Reed came on at GA and scored a couple of fine goals, while further flying intercepts from Allison, Guscoth and Beckford-Chambers helped Team Bath see out a 60-44 victory.

Next up for Team Bath is a short journey to the University of Worcester on Monday to face West Country rivals Severn Stars (7.30pm).

It is then back to the Team Bath Arena for back-to-back home matches against Scottish franchise UWS Sirens on Friday, March 2, and Manchester Thunder on Friday, March 9 (both 7.30pm).

Tickets are on sale for both games and can be purchased at netball.teambath.com.

Team Bath Netball are sponsored by Sitec and supported by partners Mogers Drewett, Investigo and Netball South West. Centurion Chartered Financial Planners are supporting the team’s performance analysis capabilities, Viper 10 are their Sportswear Supplier and Skins provide the team with compression wear.

Match stats

Team Bath Netball starting 7: GS Kadeen Corbin, GA Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, WA Rachel Shaw, C Mia Ritchie, WD Imogen Allison, GD Layla Guscoth, GK Eboni Beckford-Chambers. Replacements: Asha Francis, Chelsea Lewis, Tash Pavelin, Paige Reed, Jess Shaw.

Changes: Q3: Lewis – bench to GS; Corbin – GS to GA; Drakeford-Lewis – GA to bench; Jess Shaw – bench to WA; Rachel Shaw – WA to bench; Drakeford-Lewis – bench to GA; Corbin – GA to bench. Q4: Reed – bench to GA; Drakeford-Lewis – GA to bench; Rachel Shaw – bench to WA; Jess Shaw – WA to C; Ritchie – C to bench; Beckford-Chambers – GK to GD; Guscoth – GD to GK.

Surrey Storm starting 7: GS Sigi Burger, GA Katie Harris, WA Georgia Lees, C Yasmin Parsons, WD Tallisa Haynes, GD Katy Holland, GK Jo Trip. Replacements: Rhea Dixon, Charmaine Baard, Lorraine Kowalewska, Emily Gulvin, Jade Forbes-Wattley.

Changes: Q2: Dixon – bench to WA; Lees – WA to bench; Burger- GS to bench; Baard – bench to GS; Burger – bench to GS; Baard – GS to bench. Q3: Haynes – WD to C; Holland – GD to WD; Trip – GK to GD; Forbes-Wattley – bench to GK; Lees – bench to WA; Dixon – WA to bench; Dixon – bench to GA; Harris – GA to GS; Berger – GS to bench. Q4: Gulvin – bench to WA; Parsons – WA to C.

Quarter-scores: Q1 12-12. Q2 32-20 (20-8). Q3 44-29 (12-9). Q4 60-44 (16-15).

Attendance: 1,420.

Report courtesy of the Team Bath press office at Matchtight Ltd

2018 Vitality Superleague

Jennie Powell — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 15:48:47 +0000

Here are the fixtures for the 2018 Vitality Superleague. They will be updated with results as soon as they come in.

Round 1

Sat 10th Feb

Team Northumbria 39 – 52 Team Bath

Severn Stars 47 – 48 Manchester Thunder

Loughborough Lightning 55 – 44 UWS Sirens

Wasps Netball 68 – 43 Surrey Storm

Mon 12th Feb

Celtic Dragons 49 – 61 benecosMavericks

Round 2

Sat 17th Feb

Severn Stars 52 – 64 Wasps Netball

Team Northumbria 43 – 65 Loughborough Lightning

Mon 19th Feb

Celtic Dragons 35 – 54 Team Bath

Manchester Thunder 60 – 43 UWS Sirens

benecosMavericks 64 – 62 Surrey Storm

Round 3

Thu 22nd Feb

Wasps Netball 69 – 37 UWS Sirens

Fri 23rd Feb

Team Bath 60 – 44 Surrey Storm

Manchester Thunder 53 – 46 Team Northumbria

Sat 24th Feb

benecosMavericks 68 – 46 Severn Stars

Loughborough Lightning 69 – 45 Celtic Dragons

Round 4

Mon 26th Feb

Loughborough Lightning 55 – 56 Manchester Thunder

UWS Sirens 45 – 40 Team Northumbria

Celtic Dragons 55 – 50 Surrey Storm

Severn Stars 47 – 48 Team Bath

benecosMavericks 52 – 66 Wasps Netball

Round 5

Monday 4th June

Team Bath v UWS Sirens – re-arranged fixture

Sat 3rd Mar

Manchester Thunder P Celtic Dragons

Loughborough Lightning 49 – 60 Wasps Netball

Severn Stars P Surrey Storm

Mon 5th Mar

Team Northumbria 53 – 71 benecosMavericks

Round 6

Mon 5th Mar

Loughborough Lightning 53 – 51 Surrey Storm

Fri 9th Mar

Team Bath 51 – 60 Manchester Thunder

Sat 10th Mar

Celtic Dragons 49 – 40 Severn Stars

benecosMavericks 46 – 44 UWS Sirens

Wasps Netball 74 – 38 Team Northumbria

Round 7

Fri 16th Mar

Manchester Thunder 49-52 benecosMavericks

UWS Sirens 46-66 Severn Stars

Sat 17th Mar

Loughborough Lightning 54-59 Team Bath

Team Northumbria 47-64 Surrey Storm

Sun 18th Mar

Wasps Netball 74-32 Celtic Dragons

Round 8

Sat 21st Apr

Manchester Thunder 62-57 Surrey Storm

Team Northumbria 43-47 Severn Stars

Loughborough Lightning 54-41 benecosMavericks

Sun 22nd Apr

Wasps Netball 61-44 Team Bath

Mon 28th May

UWS Sirens v Celtic Dragons

Round 9

Fri 27th Apr

Wasps Netball 64-60 Manchester Thunder

Sat 28th Apr

UWS Sirens 44-58 Surrey Storm

Celtic Dragons 51-56 Team Northumbria

Severn Stars 43-58 Loughborough Lightning

Sun 29th Apr

benecosMavericks 57-41 Team Bath

Round 10

Mon 12th Mar

Wasps Netball 54-43 Severn Stars

Fri 4th May

Team Bath 66-39 Celtic Dragons

Sat 5th May

UWS Sirens 42-64 Manchester Thunder

Surrey Storm 43-56 benecosMavericks

Loughborough Lightning 65-45 Team Northumbria

Mon 7th May

ROUND 11

Surrey Storm 70-42 Celtic Dragons

Team Bath 51-35 Severn Stars

Manchester Thunder 56-62 Loughborough Lightning

Team Northumbria 47-42 UWS Sirens

Mon 18th Jun

Wasps Netball v benecosMavericks

ROUND 12

Sat 12th May

UWS Sirens v Wasps Netball

Surrey Storm v Team Bath

Team Northumbria v Manchester Thunder

Severn Stars v benecosMavericks

Mon 14th May

Celtic Dragons v Loughborough Lightning

ROUND 13

Fri 18th May

UWS Sirens v Loughborough Lightning

Surrey Storm v Wasps Netball

Sat 19th May

benecosMavericks v Celtic Dragons

Manchester Thunder v Severn Stars

Mon 21st May

Team Bath v Team Northumbria

ROUND 14

Fri 25th May

Celtic Dragons v Manchester Thunder

Sat 26th May

UWS Sirens v Team Bath

benecosMavericks v Team Northumbria

Wasps Netball v Loughborough Lightning

Mon 28th May

Surrey Storm v Severn Stars

ROUND 15

Fri 1st Jun

Team Bath v benecosMavericks

Sat 2nd Jun

Team Northumbria v Celtic Dragons

Surrey Storm v UWS Sirens

Manchester Thunder v Wasps Netball

Loughborough Lightning v Severn Stars

ROUND 16

Fri 8th Jun

Team Bath v Loughborough Lightning

Sat 9th Jun

Celtic Dragons v Wasps Netball

benecosMavericks v Manchester Thunder

Surrey Storm v Team Northumbria

Mon 11th Jun

Severn Stars v UWS Sirens

ROUND 17

Fri 15th Jun

Team Bath v Wasps Netball

Sat 16th Jun

Celtic Dragons v UWS Sirens

Surrey Storm v Manchester Thunder

Severn Stars v Team Northumbria

benecosMavericks v Loughborough Lightning

ROUND 18

Thu 21st Jun

UWS Sirens v benecosMavericks

Sat 23rd Jun

Manchester Thunder v Team Bath

Team Northumbria v Wasps Netball

Surrey Storm v Loughborough Lightning

Mon 25th Jun

Severn Stars v Celtic Dragons

ROUND 19 – SEMI-FINAL

Sat 30th Jun

12:00am Live on Sky Sports

ROUND 20 – 2018 GRAND FINAL

Sat 7th Jul

12:00am Live on Sky Sports