Vitality Netball Superleague: Round Six review | Netball News

The defending champions remain unbeaten heading into Round Seven (Image credit: Flynn Duggan)

Manchester Thunder and Loughborough Lightning both maintained their perfect starts to the season, while Celtic Dragons picked up a first win in Round Six of the Vitality Netball Superleague.

Karen Greig’s outfit overcame Team Bath Netball on Friday night by just four goals, while Lightning dismissed Saracens Mavericks 71-47 on Saturday.

London Pulse continued to impress with another outstanding home victory at the Copper Box Arena; Sam Bird’s side notched up their highest goal tally of the season during their dismantling of Severn Stars.

Elsewhere in the competition, Strathclyde Sirens edged out Surrey Storm, Leeds Rhinos Netball overcame Wasps by one and Dragons’ 58-42 result against Stars secured them their first win.

Thunder defeat Bath; Lightning overpower Mavericks

On Friday night at the Team Bath Arena, the crowd witnessed a 10-goal swing in the opening stages of the fourth quarter. Alas for the home fans, it went against Team Bath and meant that Anna Stembridge’s outfit were defeated.

Manchester Thunder, who remain unbeaten, showed their title-winning credentials by turning a 42-39 deficit at three-quarter time into a 49-42 lead.

Although Team Bath were eventually able to stop the run against them and come back at Thunder, the damage had been done.

At the Sir David Wallace Arena in Loughborough, defending champions Lightning made it five wins on the bounce and Victoria Burgess’ outfit set their stall out from the first whistle.

After scoring the opening three goals, they went on to lead 19-7 after 15 minutes, with shooters Ella Clark and Mary Cholhok scoring freely.

Lightning’s Fran Williams and Alice Harvey also provided a strong defensive base for the side to work from and their lead grew significantly during the next two quarters.

Saracens Mavericks grew as the game went on though, however their slow start always hindered their work.

In the latter stages, both head coaches were able to have a good look at their squads. Every one of Lightning’s players took to court, while Mavericks’ Britney Clarke shot well off the bench for the visitors.

Pulse march on; Sirens and Rhinos secure narrow wins

At the Copper Box Arena in London, Sam Bird’s London Pulse secured their third win in succession and grew stronger as the game progressed against Stars.

The fact that Olivia Tchine, Sacha McDonald and Berri Neal all shared the load from a shooting perspective will have pleased head coach Bird.

Funmi Fadoju’s nine turnovers and five interceptions will not have gone unnoticed by England head coach Jess Thirlby either!

For Stars, 14 unforced errors plagued their work and the fact that Pulse were able to deliver 13 intercepts and 22 turnovers during the 60 minutes highlights just how dominant they were.

In Glasgow, technical difficulties with the court delayed the start of play by an hour between Strathclyde Sirens and Surrey Storm.

Sirens started strongly and little did they know that their work in the opening minutes, would prove the difference at full-time.

After an 18-15 quarter to Sirens, the match had to be paused during the second quarter as the court surface had started to lift up.

Once the surface was addressed and the match resumed, it remained tightly locked. A drawn second quarter was followed by Storm edging the third by just a single goal.

Leah Middleton stood up for Storm in defence, while together Yas Parsons and Mikki Austin ensured Peace Proscovia had the service she needed. Frankie Wells also was instrumental in attack.

Going into the final quarter, neither team gave an inch and with it finishing 11-goals apiece, Sirens’ quick start had proved to have been the difference.

Leeds Rhinos Netball and Wasps christened the First Direct Arena with a thrilling contest on Sunday afternoon and one that was won in the final seconds.

After Vitality Netball Superleague stalwart Rachel Dunn levelled proceedings at 43-43, the young England international Sienna Rushton then put Rhinos back in front.

Following that, a key tip from Vicki Oyesola allowed Rhinos to run the clock down and ensure their debut at the First Direct Arena ended in victory.

It could have been more comfortable for Rhinos though, as they missed 14 shots at goal during their 60 minutes on court.

Dragons gain first win of season

At the University of Worcester Arena, Celtic Dragons overcame their hosts Severn Stars to gain their first points of the season.

Both teams went into the encounter off the back of five successive defeats and Dragons showed their prowess by winning three out of the four quarters.

It’s the Welsh franchise’s first victory since April 2021 and their first under new head coach Dannii Titmuss-Morris.

“I’m very happy, relieved and proud. It feels like everything is coming together,” Titmuss-Morris said.

“It’s nice to see us put out a consistent performance across the four quarters. I think we had it in patches in other games but today it seemed to all come together.

“There were also consistent performance across the board; it wasn’t just one or two people, everyone did their job today.”

Georgia Rowe’s impressive 42 goals showed that Dragons are really starting to know how to feed her well now. Meanwhile, at the other end of the court, Annabel Roddy and Shaquanda Greene-Noel secured eight interceptions as a defensive unit.

The Vitality Netball Superleague continues on Friday evening with Severn Stars looking to bounce back against Leeds Rhinos Netball. The match will be streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel at 7pm.