ROUND 7 of the Vitality Netball Superleague took place over the weekend. The Strathclyde Sirens could not continue their good form from Round 6 as they went down to the Severn Stars, while the season seems to be getting continuously worse for the struggling London Pulse. Meanwhile, Manchester Thunder scored 83 goals against the Celtic Dragons, the highest score for 2019 thus far. The Dragons will be disappointed in the margin given their improvement over recent weeks. Wasps Netball are still sitting comfortable at the top of the table, having not dropped a game in 2019.

The Strathclyde Sirens seem to have hit a plateau come Round 7, with a disappointing loss to Severn Stars to open the round. With a 19 goal loss in front of a home crowd, the Sirens scored a frustrating 37 goals to the Stars’ clinical 56. It was only the second victory for the Stars this season, but they certainly proved their strength over the Sirens as they came into the second half up by a punishing 16 points. For the first time in 2019 the whole 12 player match-day Stars squad made it onto the court, showing the depth in the side as they managed to maintain their strong lead despite the youthful changes downcourt. Defenders Sam Cook, Jodi-Ann Ward and Ella Powell-Davies were dominant in the goal circle, limiting Sirens shooter, Cat Tuivaiti to only 20 shots, though she sat at 100% accuracy throughout her time on court. Down the other end, 6ft 5in goal shooter, Georgia Rowe was phenomenal for the Stars, converting 49 shots from 51 attempts on the day and proving her necessity to the side.

Game two of Round 7 saw Team Bath take on Wasps Netball in a do or die match for Bath, as they looked to uphold their position in the top half of the ladder ahead of the midway point of the season. With Bath’s England Roses defender, Eboni Usoro-Brown back from injury the home side was hoping for a better outcome than recent weeks, but were unfortunately unable to capitalise, dropping to fifth on the ladder. Despite even first, third and final quarters, the Wasps proved too strong for Bath as they put on the accelerator in the second term, shooting 17 goals to seven, and going on to beat Bath by 11 points (46 – 57). The clinical way in which the Wasps piled on the goals when Bath had moments of sloppiness proved why they are currently the top team in the competition. Wasps shooters, Katie Harris and Rachel Dunn were dominant in the circle, rotating with poise, shooting 13 unanswered goals in the second quarter to add to their tally. Meanwhile, Team Bath struggled to move the ball into the circle at times, eventually seeing Kim Commane take the court in goal shooter in place of fellow Aussie, Beryl Friday. Team Bath could not catch a break, losing Charlie Curtis and Imogen Allison to injury in quick succession ahead of the final quarter. Meanwhile, Team Bath midcourter, Serena Guthrie is still in recovery and sitting out of the side, presumably resting ahead of the Netball World Cup in Manchester in July.

Surrey Storm and Loughborough Lightning battled it out in the mid-ladder clash for Round 7, with Lightning breaking the Storm’s recent winning streak as well as stringing together their second win in a row for the first time this season. After an even first quarter Lightning took out the game, winning by a convincing 16 points (50 – 66) and leaping over Team Bath into fourth on the ladder. Meanwhile, Storm came into this match with confidence, looking for a third win on the trot, but lost the match in the middle quarters of the game as they shot a combined 22 goals to Lightning’s 40 in the second and third. Tuaine Keenan and Vicki Oyesola were workhorses in defence for the Lightning, determined to hold onto the lead they took after the first term and maintain their clinical mindset when coming up against dominant international Storm shooter, Sigi Burger. Down the other end, Ugandan shooter, Mary Cholhok dominated at the post, and was named Lightning player of the match for her efforts.

The first of Monday’s matches saw the Saracens Mavericks take on London Pulse, in what was always looking to be a tough match for the new team to the competition. Mavericks came away with a well deserved 28 point win, beating the flailing Pulse 65 – 37 in front of an excited Hertfordshire home crowd. This win rockets the Mavericks into second on the ladder based on percentage, while Pulse are still sitting in tenth with only one win for the season. Pulse’s 13 goal second half let them down, as Mavericks came away with an easy win to continue their confident season thus far. Razia Quashie was powerful in defence, continuing her outstanding run for the season, while George Fisher was her normal dominant self under the post. Meanwhile, Mavericks player of the match, Kadeen Corbin, proved why she is in the England Roses side as she threw herself into the game with her silky shots on goal and skillful movement through the midcourt and goal third. Pulse’s Jas Odeogberin and Loreen Ngwira put on the pressure in defence, holding their own for most of the first half, however attack could not get goals on the board, rendering their defensive efforts irrelevant.

In the last game of Round 7, Celtic Dragons took on Manchester Thunder in what was the blowout of the round. Thunder came out convincingly on top, beating the Dragons by 27 goals to win 56 – 83. Manchester pulled off a dominant final quarter thrashing to win the match, shooting 25 goals to eight in the last quarter after an even third term. However it was the Thunder’s strong first quarter that set up the win, shooting 21 to 13 in the first to get on the right track to victory. Dragons had the opportunity to come back into the match, shooting 20 to Thunder’s 21 in the second term, but were unfortunately unable to capitalise on their successful patch. The big match-up of the game was between Dragons defender, Dee Bolakoro and Thunder shooter, Joyce Mvula, who both battled their hardest to have the upperhand. Mvula shot at an exceptional 92 per cent for the match, proving her dominance at the post while Bolakoro put on her best show to stop the ball before it came into the circle. Lucy Howells proved necessary for the Dragons in wing defence, showing her effectiveness and stopping valuable ball movement through the Thunder’s attack. All in all, the Dragons showed they have good things to come, if only they can maintain the consistency for a full four quarter effort.