Team Bath Netball Superleague stars inspire England to double victory in Quad Series and help Wales record home series success
Team Bath Netball stars Layla Guscoth and Serena Guthrie were named as Player of the Match against South Africa and New Zealand respectively as England made an outstanding start to the 2022 Quad Series.
Goal-defence Guscoth was in fantastic form as the Vitality Roses stormed to a 71-47 victory over the SPAR Proteas on Saturday, the biggest win in Quad Series history.
Fellow Blue & Gold stars Imogen Allison and Sophie Drakeford-Lewis came off the bench to play their part in the eye-catching win, while former Team Bath player Geva Mentor won her 150th cap after starting at goal-keeper alongside Guscoth.
Victory was more hard-fought on Sunday as the Roses found themselves trailing by eight goals to the Silver Ferns midway through the second quarter before, driven on by an inspirational display from captain Guthrie, fighting back to win 49-46 and guarantee their place in Wednesday’s final.
“I was just really proud of the team effort today,” said Guthrie. “Our ability to retain possession was excellent so I’m really proud of that.”
England will play Australia in the last round-robin match on Tuesday (7.30pm) before facing the Diamonds again in the final.
Meanwhile, Team Bath Superleague star Betsy Creak started at goal-attack for Wales Netball as they won all three matches during a first senior home international series since 2019, boosting their chances of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games qualification.
Wales – whose squad included Team Bath U21 NPL player Nia Evans – beat Republic of Ireland 69-13, Isle of Man 87-25 and Gibraltar 82-27 at Ebbw Vale. Suzy Drane started at centre in all three matches and fellow Team Bath Toucans player Rebecca Baker came on for her international debut against Gibraltar.
Team Bath’s internationals return to the Rengen-backed Superleague squad next week to begin final preparations for the 2022 season, which gets under way with a Season Opener double-header at Resorts World Birmingham against Strathclyde Sirens on Saturday 5th February and London Pulse on Sunday 6th February.
The first chance to watch the Blue & Gold in action at the Team Bath Arena is on Friday 18th February when they host Surrey Storm (7.30pm). Tickets for that game, and the seven other home Superleague matches, are on sale now – click here for further details.
