Team Bath edged out by the Dragons
Round One of the Battle of the Bridge proved to be a barnstormer, but it was Cardiff Dragons who came out on top as they beat Severn rivals Team Bath Netball 52-46 in Friday’s televised Super League match.
A 1,200-strong crowd in the Team Bath Arena and viewers on Sky Sports were treated to a cracking contest which was level after the first quarter and had just two goals in it at half-time.
A strong start to the third quarter by Dragons ultimately proved decisive, giving them a cushion which the hosts weren’t quite able to claw back during a hugely-entertaining final quarter, but there was much to admire about Team Bath’s play, not least in defence where England duo Jayda Pechova and Tash Pavelin excelled.
Asha Francis, Team Bath Netball head coach, said: “We didn’t come away with the outcome we wanted but in terms of the performance, the fight and how dynamic we were, that is something we really need to take and make sure we push on. I feel we performed across all four quarters and some of the changes we made showed good impact.
“That’s been our story this season, though, the critical moments that just get away. We had some great turnovers but then a rush of blood to the head where we are throwing ball to people who are clearly covered.
“It’s learning how to deal with those moments where you really need to make sure you take it through to goal, that you still see all your options. Those are definitely big things we need to work on in the second half of the season.”
Team Bath started the match with the seven that finished strongly against Leeds Rhinos last week, which meant starts for overseas duo Lisa Putt and Sloan Burton plus a move to wing-defence for Pavelin.
They all played key roles in a feisty first quarter that saw Team Bath go 6-2 down early on before working back into the game via tenacious defending from Putt, Pavelin and Pechova, matched by some confident finishing from Burton and Sophie Kelly.
Team Bath levelled midway through the quarter and forged ahead through a trademark Kelly goal from range, but Dragons grabbed the last goal to send the teams into the break deadlocked at 13-13.
Legendary Team Bath coaches Anna Stembridge and Jess Thirlby, England head coaches past and present respectively, were presented to the crowd during the break after being inducted into the University of Bath Hall of Fame for
Sport. They returned to their seats to see another topsy-turvy start to the second quarter, Dragons rattling off the first three goals and Team Bath responding in kind before the visitors put together a run of five unanswered goals to lead 25-19.
That was the cue for Francis to switch things up, with Emma Barrie coming on at shooter and Burton moving to GA while Putt and Pechova swapped positions.
The changes had a huge impact, particularly in defence where Pechova forced four turnovers in the closing stages – getting the crowd and Team Bath bench on their feet – as the hosts closed the gap to 26-24 at half-time.
University of Bath sporting scholar Hannah Passmore came on for Dragons against her former club – as did Laura Rudland in a new-look attacking partnership – and wasted no time in making an impression, scoring five of the first six goals in the game’s third quarter to put the visitors back in the driving seat.
The remainder of the quarter was evenly matched, helped by some fantastic finishing from Burton and inspirational defending from Pavelin, but, despite mixing things up with a number of positional changes, Team Bath were not quite able to close the gap and trailed 41-36 at the buzzer. Team Bath threw everything at the game during a hugely-competitive final quarter, with every interception and every goal being greeted by a huge roar from the home fans, and they closed the gap to three with four minutes remaining.
However, Dragons dug deep to see the game out and scored the last three goals of the game to deny Team Bath the consolation of winning the final quarter.
Pavelin was voted by the fans as winner of Team Bath’s Most Valuable Player Award, sponsored by Results Body+Mind, and received a bouquet, supplied by Flowers of Bath, from Fran Connolly, CEO of England Netball.
Team Bath begin the second half of the season with successive away trips, to London Pulse on Saturday and Saracens Mavericks on April 27, before returning to the Team Bath Arena on Saturday, May 4 to face Surrey Storm.
Tickets are available at teambath.com/tickets.
Team Bath Netball is supported by Bath Building Society and Rengen Developments, who are both overall Team Bath Partners.
Flyhawk supply Team Bath’s performance clothing and off-court apparel. netball.
Despite very strong winds at least the rain held off for most of the day for the Drive In event at Mendip for the new incoming Captains.
A full start sheet welcomed new Mens’ Captain Mark Necker, new Ladies Captain Ann Padley and new Junior Captain Connie Cox.
The Clubhouse was packed for the post-event festivities and handing over of the Captains’ Jackets. As for the golf itself, the winning team consisting of Craig Robertson, Victoria Ham, young Georgie Powell and Tom Rowland scored 85 points, well clear of a four-way tie for 2nd place on 80 points which after count back left Nick White, Chris White, Kevin Keene and Baden Wilkinson 2nd, George Abbot, Micheal Goodliffe, Philip Haynes and Richard Barker 3rd; Rob Edney, Nigel Coleman, Paul Lewis and Michal Rokitowski 4th and Nigel Brokenshire, Andy Wells, Will Burns and Paul Cains 5th.
The Mens Avalon A Team continued their fine start to the season with a 3-2 away win at Tall Pines, points coming from Rob Edney/ Paul Lewis, Kevin Keene/Nick White and Mark Necker/Rob Cook, the match being decided by a fine putt on the 18th green from new Mens Captain Mark Necker.
The Avalon B & C Teams find themselves in the same League this year and first blood goes to the C Team with a 4-1 win.
Successful for the C Team were Gary Quin/Tony Logan, Dan Owen/Clive Copp, debutants Cliff Hall/Paul Drew, with Scott Butland/Malcolm Srawley halving with Tom Rowland/Jeremy Lawrence and with a further half for more debutants Charlie Homes/ Jon Cox who halved with Craig Robertson/Mike Merrick. Nearest the Pin went to Clayton Merrett, with Jon Cox 2nd and Joe Cox 3rd.
The Ladies Alliance B Team registered a 9-5 win over Isle of Wedmore in their first match of the season with wins for Maureen Charlton, Edwina Willis, Jo Espley and Chris Down with a half from Fran Davies. It was good to see the team welcome two of the new ladies into their squad. On a very difficult scoring day the Ladies held a qualifying stableford which gave a big advantage to the ladies who played on the Saturday.
Div 1 went to Jane Ball with 36 points with Michelle Young 2nd with 32 and 3rd was Lynn Cox with
30. Div 2 went to Lizzie Wood with 32, Ann Padley was 2nd with 28 and Lyn Jones was 3rd with 26. Div 3 was won by Victoria Ham with 38, Pauline Williams was 2nd with 31 and Suzie Howe was 3rd with 28. Eileen Masters won the 9 hole event with 17 points.
The Seniors Avalon Team had a fine 4-1 win over Mendip Spring to get their campaign underway. Winning for Mendip were Simon Brand/Terry Carter, Chris Betenson/Paul Godwin, Andy Humphries/Dave Golledge and Gary Quin/ Kevin Carmody. The Seniors Friendly Team returned to form after their recent unexpected home defeat, beating visitors Clevedon 6-0.
■ The Seniors section of Fosseway Golf Club put up a sterling performance at Minehead in the first round of the Somerset Seniors Rosebowl competition before eventually going down 3-2. One of the recent recruits John Harvey joined up with Roger Parfitt to win their game while Shaun Goodwin and Gary Wilcox won the final hole in a tight encounter to finish one up. The other matches were all close with Allen Cheney and Alan White and Malcolm Emery and Phil Winsley losing 2-1 with Paul Trigg and Paul Ellis defeated 3-2.
The Gruesomes Strokeplay competition for the Broadway and Smith Cup saw George Thurston and Malcolm Tucker emerge clear winners with a nett score of 66. Four shots behind came Pat Cray and Rex Wyatt with Trigg and John Williams third with a nett score of
71.
The April medal saw members trying to get to grips with the new handicap system. To make it more testing it was played on temporary greens due to rain prior to the event. Noel Chatfield took the honours with a nett score of 69 with White in second place with a nett 70 and Paul Ellis a further shot back on 71.
The Seniors were sad to hear of the recent death of life member Alan Pugh and send their condolences to his family.