Blue & Gold looking to ‘bounce back and assert ourselves’ as they travel to Coventry to take on Wasps in Vitality Superleague

Team Bath Netball are looking for a response to Monday’s last-quarter disappointment against Loughborough Lightning when they head to Coventry to face Wasps in Round 9 of the Vitality Superleague on Saturday (7pm centre-pass).

Both teams faced Lightning in their last match, with the Haines Watts-sponsored Blue & Gold playing brilliantly to lead after 45 minutes before being undone by the defending champions in the final period.

That match came a day after Lightning had been restricted to their narrowest win of the season so far by Wasps, who led at half-time before being edged out 57-53.

Team Bath Netball Superleague Head Coach Anna Stembridge said after Monday’s 53-44 defeat: “Wasps will take a lot of confidence from that performance against Loughborough, they showed real patience and built in their attack.

“We won’t be underestimating Wasps and we will definitely be doing our homework but it is an opportunity for us to try and bounce back, and assert ourselves accordingly.

“The girls are getting lots of things thrown at them in terms of restrictions and challenges, as other teams are, but we’ll come together, regroup and go again on Saturday.”

South African defender Phumza Maweni, who was named as player of the match against Lightning, added: “Wasps are a really good team, so we need to go hard and play for the full 60 minutes of the game.”

Team Bath will be without Layla Guscoth, fellow defender Tash Pavelin and captain Imogen Allison for the visit to Wasps through Covid, with training partners Molly Hole and Anya Le Monnier named in the travelling squad along with training associate Annie O’Rourke.

The Blue & Gold, who are also backed by Rengen, currently sit fifth in the Superleague table, three points behind fourth-placed Saracens Mavericks who are the next visitors to the Team Bath Arena on Friday 25^th March (7.30pm). Just a handful of tickets remain available for that game, click here to purchase.

Tickets for the remaining home games against high-flying London Pulse (Monday 11^th April, 7.30pm), local rivals Severn Stars (Saturday 23^rd April, 4pm) and Wasps (Friday 20^th May, 7.30pm) are also available, as are Visit netball.teambath.com/fixtures to see the full fixture list and purchase links.

Team Bath Netball is supported by its Principal and Pathway Partner, chartered accountants Haines Watts; Rengen Developments, who are an overall Team Bath Partner; Centurion Chartered Financial Planners and Ecus Ltd, our environment partner. Team Bath’s suppliers include O’Neills, 2XU, Pulseroll and Halo Hydration.