Combinations Prove Successful

Saturday 13th December
Won 45 - 36

Mavericks were looking for another home victory against Team Northumbria , and they did just that, 45 – 36. Our Northern foe, who travelled South via British Rail, never took the lead across the hour. Mavericks started the game better than Team Northumbria . The early stages saw both teams make unforced errors but Louisa Brownfield, linking with Ella Clark in the shooting circle showed composure when needed. Mavericks could have gone into the first break ahead by more, had centre court Chrissy Fitzgerald and Chioma Ezeogu found their range earlier. The score at the first break was 11-8 to Mavericks.

Mavericks started the second quarter strongly with Gemma Wiseman coming from the bench to GA with Lousisa Brownfield slipping back to the more familiar GS. Although Mavericks noses were in front throughout, it was strong shooting from Aussie GS Carla Dziwoki that kept Team Northumbria in the game. Dziwoki’s shooting is a great strength of Team Northumbria as is the mid-court working of the ball around the circle edge to effectively feed both Dziwoki and GA Vicky Phillips. Nevertheless anything that was missed was quickly snapped up by Naida Hutchinson and Hazel Schofield. At half time Mavericks remained ahead 24-18.
The third quarter saw changes for Mavericks Chioma Ezeogu moved from WA to C, Gemma Wiseman to WA and Michelle Hall sliding in at GA. Natalie Seaton joined the defensive unit at GD. This combination worked hard ensuring that Mavericks extended their lead by 10 goals at three quarter time, 37-27.

In the fourth quarter Mavericks re introduced Ella Clark in place of England ’s GS Lousia Brownfield. A fine job she did too! Team Northumbria also made changes moving the effective and accurate Dziwoki to GA, bringing tall GS Emma Lower into the action for the first time in an attempt to close the gap. The move proved quite effective, Lowers height and therefore a towering target, caused Mavericks problems and required an adjustment to their defensive formation. However, Team Northumbria only pulled back one goal in the final 15 minutes, with the game belonging to a composed Mavericks outfit at the final whistle.

Stef Bello for Mavericks played well at WD, lifting her performance to outsmart her opponents. Maverick Captain Louisa Brownfield commented post match “A good 2 points for us tonight and Stef Bello is developing into a player that Mavericks can rely on.”

Maverick Coach Kendra Slawinski commented on an area for development she notice in tonight’s match ‘I was pleased to use a variety of combinations that show great promise, however the error rate is far too high at this level.’

As Mavericks look forward to Christmas, they can’t quite put their feet up, sit around the Yule-tide tree singing carols yet. They have an away fixture at Team Bath on Mon 22nd Dec. What a match up that will be with Team Bath topping the table and third place Mavericks!