Brilliant Blue & Gold show strength in depth to record first away Superleague success against Strathclyde Sirens
Team Bath Netball produced an excellent performance to record their first-ever Vitality Netball Superleague away victory over Strathclyde Sirens.
The Sitec-sponsored Blue & Gold were without England duo Serena Guthrie and Eboni Usoro-Brown for the tough trip to Glasgow but demonstrated their strength in depth by winning each quarter on their way to a 55-45 victory over a Sirens side backed by a 1,200-strong home crowd.
University of Bath student Imogen Allison, player of the match in the opening Super 10 win against Celtic Dragons, wore the captain’s armband for the visitors and saw them capitalise ruthlessly on their turnovers to open up a 14-9 lead after the first quarter.
Sirens had also won their Super 10 fixture but struggled to make headway against the brilliant Blue & Gold defence, with Chartie Curtis – making her first full Superleague start – forging a strong combination with Summer Artman.
The visitors were also moving the ball with pace and flair in attack as Mia Ritchie and Rachel Shaw provided plenty of opportunities for the attacking duo of Sophie Drakeford-Lewis and Kim Commane to convert.
At one point Team Bath had stretched their lead to nine goals but Sirens rallied in the closing stages to cut the half-time advantage to 29-23.
A highly competitive third quarter ended with the Blue & Gold holding a 41-34 lead but Sirens refused to go down without a fight and closed the gap to two with eight minutes of the game remaining.
Team Bath showed tremendous resilience and character, though, to regain the initiative and cut off Sirens’ supply chain before building out their final winning margin to ten goals.
Other results over the weekend mean that Team Bath are the only side so far to have won their opening two fixtures of the season.
They will be looking to build on that positive start when they run out at the Team Bath Arena for the first time in 2019 to face Surrey Storm on Monday, January 28 (7pm). Tickets for that match and all of Team Bath’s home fixtures are on sale now – click here for further details.
Team Bath Netball are sponsored by Sitec and supported by partners Mogers Drewett, Soldi and Netball South West. Centurion Chartered Financial Planners are supporting the team’s performance analysis and people development capabilities, Viper 10 are their Sportswear Supplier and Skins provide the team with compression wear.
