Vitality Netball Superleague: Round Nine review

Coverage of the Vitality Netball Superleague continues on Friday with Round 10 and the start of a 10-match weekend live on Sky Sports and streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel

By Emma Thurston

Image: Saracens Mavericks ended Team Bath Netball's unbeaten run on Sunday afternoon (Image Credit - Ben Lumley)

We look back at some of the key moments and performances from Round Nine of the Vitality Netball Superleague.

If you did miss any of the action, then you can watch every match back in full on the Sky Sports YouTube channel. The competition returns on Friday with a 10-match weekend featuring Rounds 10 and 11.

The fixtures on Friday and Monday will be live on Sky Sports Mix and every match will be streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel.

For now, take a look at some of the things that jumped out at us over the course of the last six matches...

Vitality Netball Superleague - Round Nine Results

Sunday Manchester Thunder 59-50 Loughborough Lightning
Sunday Severn Stars 47-35 Celtic Dragons
Sunday London Pulse 37-49 Wasps
Sunday Saracens Mavericks 39-38 Team Bath Netball
Monday Severn Stars 36-41 London Pulse
Monday Saracens Mavericks 37-59 Manchester Thunder

Match of the Round

Image: The contest between Saracens Mavericks and Team Bath Netball was one of the best of the season so far (Image Credit - Ben Lumley)

Without a doubt, Sunday's contest between Saracens Mavericks and Team Bath Netball secures the match of the round accolade this week.

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From the first whistle, it was clear that Mavericks meant business and that Bath were going to have to pull something special out of the bag if they wanted to remain unbeaten.

An early injury to Razia Quashie forced every Mavericks player from WA down to shift along a position, and instead of that disrupting them, it galvanised Kat Ratnapala's team.

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Despite Mavericks holding a 32-29 lead going into the last quarter, Bath fought back and made it a level contest with just over a minute to go.

The final 60 seconds then contained a little bit of everything; with the pressure on their shoulders Mavs converted their centre pass, before Bath did the same and a matter of centimetres denied the league-leaders a chance of snatching the spoils. What a contest!

Performance of the Round

Image: Manchester Thunder ended Loughborough Lightning's winning run on Sunday and then beat Saracens Mavericks (Image Credit - Ben Lumley)

Here, we're taking a look at Manchester Thunder and their two performances against Loughborough Lightning and Saracens Mavericks.

This season, the 2019 champions haven't had everything their own way, however on Sunday and Monday they played with assurance and confidence.

Throughout both matches they combined solidity in defence with vibrancy in attack and you know a team is playing well when they have the luxury of bringing on their bench players in the final minutes and still winning by 22 goals.

Mavericks beat Bath; Thunder end Lightning's run

Saracens Mavericks inflicted a first defeat of the season on Team Bath Netball, while Manchester Thunder ended Loughborough Lightning's seven-match winning streak. (Image Credit - Ben Lumley)

The View on Social Media

In Round Nine, Kadeen Corbin made excellent use of her skills as a gymnast when she wasn't able to slam on the breaks quickly enough against Team Bath Netball!

It's not the first time we've seen her gymnastic skills, however normally they're used to boost the celebrations after key victories!

After Beth Dyke's nasty injury during the first quarter of Stars' contest with Celtic Dragons, there was an outpouring of love for her.

Finally, Rachel Dunn showed her appreciation for the outrageous skill shown by her fellow shooter Gezelle Allison during Wasps' victory over London Pulse.

Young Player Excelling

On Monday evening, London Pulse's victory over Severn Stars was a result of their determined first 24 minutes and at the heart of that was Funmi Fadoju.

Fadoju's five deflections, an intercept and a turnover made life incredibly difficult for Stars, who were without both Liana Leota and Beth Dyke, and the work of Pulse's WD was noted by England head coach Jess Thirlby.

When you look at the statistics for the season so far, Fadoju is joint top in terms of the number of deflections that she's delivered. The teenager has tipped 41 passes/shots so far and that number is set to soar as the rounds continue.

Player of the Round

This weekend, Amy Flanagan caught our eye for her impressive work in Wasps' mid-court.

In Round Eight, it was her move to Centre that helped Wasps steady the ship against Celtic Dragons and she had another outstanding performance against Pulse on Sunday.

During the first few minutes against Pulse, Flanagan and Josie Huckle both secured vital turnovers and that set the tone for Wasps' storming first quarter.

Flanagan, who former Wasps coach Tamsin Greenway says doesn't like playing Centre, finished the game with three interceptions, four deflections and six turnovers to her name.

Sky Sports is your home of netball. The Vitality Netball Superleague continues on Friday with Round 10 and the start of a 10-match weekend, live on Sky Sports and streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel.

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