Mavericks suffered only their second defeat of the season at the hands of Bath . The defending Champions were beaten by Team Bath 55-41 at the Sports Training Village of the University of Bath . Nevertheless Mavericks retain 3 rd position going into the Christmas break and consequently Team Bath maintain their unbeaten record and sit at the top of the SL table.
Mavericks started poorly, in comparison Team Bath made an excellent start to this Sky Sports televised encounter. Rachel Dunn and Pamela Cookey both were effective in their shooting circle and found their range quickly, capitalizing on Mavericks errors and poor decision making. Bath centre court dominated the first quarter and Team Bath quickly took a 19 – 9 lead. For Mavericks, England international and captain Karen Atkinson (WA) linked well with Louisa Brownfield (GS) and Camilla Buchanan worked well at C. But it was insufficient to stop the purposeful drives of Team Bath.
Mavericks Coach Kendra Slawinski opted to move Atkinson to C and brought on Chioma Ezeogu at WA, and with Louisa Brownfield switch to GA with Michelle Hall coming in at GS these changes heralded a revival in the second quarter. Naida Hutchinson, who was named ‘player of the match‘, started to get the better of Rachel Dunn, who was restricted to 6/11 shots. Team Bath Coach Jess Garland made no substitutions at quarter-time but rang the changes at half time with her team up 32 -21. Mavericks rallied in the second and third quarters and were at their most confident and competitive, losing out to Team Bath by a single goal, 13-12, each time. At half time the score was 32-21. Oh! If only the start had been different!
For the 3rd quarter Team Bath made several changes re-shuffling the attack end and introducing Sasha Corbin at WA. Mavericks GK Naida Hutchinson, defended well all game, and especially stood out in the third quarter.
In the final quarter both sides kept the capacity crowd entertained. Mavericks managed to dominate for a majority of the 15 minutes. However couldn’t quite manage to take advantage even after the forced change of Sara Bayman’s to an unfamiliar GD, covering for the injury of Gemma Fletcher. Team Bath scored two late goals producing a final score of 55-41.
Mavericks recognise there is still work to be done between now and March if they are to retain their title. Coach Kendra Slawinski said ‘It was an error strewn start that put us on the back foot. Playing opposition like this you have to be consistently good. In the following 3 quarters we competed much better. Every effort will be made to get better in time for the return match.’
Mavericks Captain Karen Atkinson concluded that despite ‘a really poor start and some ordinary play we competed and kept with them for 3 quarters of the game.’
We wish all our loyal fans and volunteer’s a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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