A match that was going to decide the venue for the play offs; 5 players missing off the Hertfordshire Mavericks team list meant an opportunity to continue to work with a variety of combinations to be tested .

The first half demonstrated the depth the home side is developing as it was disappointing they were 6 goals adrift it was personal errors that caused this not the oppositions pressure but it was positive to see the Mavericks stick to the attacking game plan and break though Thunders defence with patient feeding by Buchanan, Morgan Smith and astute switching by Wood and Clark. Thunder were without their excellent GA but it is clear they are getting used to feeding their new import and it is this area of the court that needs to be resolved before going into the play offs. Schofield and Stenhouse worked tirelessly and Buchanan and Schmidt forced Thunders attacking play sideways and backwards but the unit needs to be tighter for 60mins to force Thunder to make more errors.

It was clear as the second half started that Thunders coach, Mike Greenwood had asked for tighter defence; Hertfordshire Mavericks froze on several occasions and the options were restricted and Thunder drove through the defence with purpose and guile. Jackson switched Wood to WA and Joseph moved in to the shooting spot with Clark playing GA. This brought some organisation back into the Hertfordshire Mavericks Squad and the attacking leadership displayed by Wood was excellent. Joseph is demonstrating the improvement she has made this season; great ball handling and accurate shooting enabled this quarter to be a competitive one.

Hertfordshire Mavericks will regret they allowed Thunder to dominate in the 3 rd quarter. However now it is the Play offs ; a new game and one Hertfordshire Mavericks are looking forward to!