TeamBath retain their title

9th June 2007

TeamBath are netball’s superleague champions for the second time of asking after beating Mavericks 53-45 and successfully defending their title at the Spectrum Arena, Guildford, in a contest which went to the wire.

With five minutes to go the sides were level pegging at 45-45 after a storming contest which Mavericks led throughout the first half and in which the lead swung precariously for all bar the final five minutes.

Mavericks repeated the kind of flying start they enjoyed in the play-offs. They raced to a 5-1 and 6-2 lead, testing the champions with their centre-court speed and showing some accurate shooting from England’s Louisa Brownfield and young talent Jo Harten.

Conversely, Team Bath’s primary shooter, Rachel Dunn, started tentatively. She missed two seemingly sure-fire opportunities at both ends of the quarter and never really fired until the crucial dying minutes.

She and Team Bath goal-attack Pamela Cookey were under constant pressure from England circle defenders Janet Colbourne and Amanda Newton.

“It was tough all the way”, said Cookey after the match. “I just felt that if we could get ahead we could settle and play our game”.

At 8-9 in the opening quarter, Team Bath looked set to get themselves back into the action but two fabulous intercepts from Newton set up a brace of counterattacks to put Mavericks 11-8 ahead and, by the interval, the defending champions were still two goals adrift at 10-12.

The second quarter took up where the first ended. Both sides played at break-neck speed and with sheer tenacity. Tamsin Greenway worked tirelessly to feed her shooters from her role at wing-attack for Bath, making light work of former England wing-defence Naomi Siddall. Surely, no other player could be named player of the match.

Team Bath were 12-15 adrift part-way through the second period, though. With 23 minutes of the match gone, they drew level at 17-17 only to see Mavericks respond to move to 20-17. Two turn-overs might then have seen Bath draw level again but Cookey was penalised for footwork and Dunn was twice blown for infringements.

With a minute to go of the half Bath put together one of the best passing moves of the match to score and take the margin to just one goal, 21-22.

In the first 40 seconds of the third quarter Team Bath had leveled at 22-22 with a Cookey goal. As the play swung from end to end Mavericks went one ahead and Bath countered. Only when Bath turned-over a Mavericks’ centre pass, 35 minutes into the match, did they move ahead for the first time by 27-26 before scoring again to take a 2-point lead.

It wasn’t over yet. Team Bath seemed to stall and slow. Mavericks took their chances and went 31-30 ahead. That’s when Jo Binns, on at centre for Sara Bayman and the only substitute by either side in the match, produced a wrong-footing pass of pure genius through into Cookey who scored to level at 31-31.

The move seemed to spark the defending champion into a mini-surge and they went 35-31 and 36-32 ahead only to allow Mavericks back into the game and at the final break Team Bath were ahead by just one goal at 36-35.

Mavericks leveled at the outset of the final quarter. Two quick moves, a sensational shot from Cookey and two well-worked attacks put Bath 39-36 ahead. Mavericks still came back. They leveled at 40-40 with ten minutes to go.

For a tense five minutes the score went with centre-pass. At 46-45 Cookey, showed why she’s one of the best goal-attacks in the world as she loosed off the shot of the match to put Bath 47-45 ahead. Inevitably Mavericks called a time-out to disrupt the flow.

Bath weren’t fazed. Geva Mentor and Billy Bowers made two world-class intercepts, and Dunn came alive with Cookey to pile on the goals in a final flurry. At the final whistle the score was 53-45.

The victory crowned a 24-match unbeaten run for Team Bath who have won all of their Superleague encounters this year.

“I’m just exhausted”, said a clearly drained Team Bath coach Jan Crabtree after the match. “Credit to them, they played very well today.

“I felt that we were in control for quite a lot of the match and we just needed to get the break-away and build on it. That didn’t come, though, until the final quarter and it was a tough game”, added Greenway.

Starting Sevens:

Team Bath: GS: Rachel Dunn ;GA: Pamela Cookey ;WA: Tamsin Greenway; C: Sara Bayman; WD: Sasha Corbin ; GD: Bily Bowers ; GK: Geva Mentor .

Mavericks: GS: Jo Harten ;GA: Louisa Brownfield ;WA: Karen Atkinson; C:Debbie Jones ; WD: Naomi Siddall ; GD: Amanda Newton ; GK: Janet Colbourne .

Substitutes:
Quarter 3: Jo Binns at centre for Bayman for Team Bath.

Quarter scores: Team Bath first: 10-12, 21-22, 36-35, 53-45

2006 Archive

TeamBath are first Superleague champions

TeamBath are the inaugural figleaves.com Superleague nethall champions after their 43-35 win over Mavericks in the final at Guildford's Spectrum Arena.

In an often-tense final they were just too powerful and composed for Mavericks who have grown in stature and substance since their early season defeats.

"We're absolutely thrilled", said TeamBath coach Jan Crabtree after the match. "This win hasn't just been about the work on court but also about the support and all the help we've had this season. Hats off to Mavericks, they competed until the end and made us work all the way through but we're all just delighted to have won the very first trophy."

Billy Bowers, team captain, also paid tribute to the hard work of the players. "We deserved it. We've shown all season what a great team-unit we are and all of our hard work has paid off today."

Starting Sevens

TeamBath
GS: Rachel Dunn;  GA:  Pamela Cookey;  WA:  Tamsin Greenway; C; Jo Binns;  WD:  Clare Elsley;  GD: Billy Bowers (Capt);  GK:  Geva Mentor.

TeamBath Subs: Third quarter Sonya Crowe for Binns at C; final quarter ­ Binns for Crowe at centre.

Mavericks
GS:  Louisa Brownfield;  GA:  Anne-Marie Muller, WA: Sasha Corbin, C: Debbie Jones, WD: Naomi Siddall; GD: Amanda Newton, GK:  Janet Colbourne
 
Don't forget you can still see the thrilling play-off matches here on sportuk.tv
 

Links
Team Bath Netball: www.teambath.com
Figleaves.com: www.figleaves.com