Vitality Netball Superleague: Rounds 10 and 11 review

Coverage of the Vitality Netball Superleague continues on Sunday, April 25 with Round 12 and four matches streamed live on the Sky Sports YouTube channel from 12pm.

By Emma Thurston

Image: Loughborough Lightning were ruthless on Sunday (Image Credit - Ben Lumley)

We look back at some of the key moments and performances from Rounds 10 and 11 of the Vitality Netball Superleague.

With 10 matches over the course of four days, the Vitality Netball Superleague said farewell to Wakefield on a busy note! The weekend recorded some of the highest goal tallies that we've seen so far this season and produced some excellent individual and team performances.

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 is now taking a short break before matches restart on Sunday, April 25 from a new home at the Copper Box Arena in London.

For now, take a look at some of the things that jumped out at us over the course of Rounds 10 and 11...

Vitality Netball Superleague - Rounds 10 and 11

Strathclyde Sirens 35-61 Loughborough Lightning
Leeds Rhinos Netball 46-52 Team Bath Netball
Surrey Storm 33-45 Strathclyde Sirens
Team Bath Netball 37-27 London Pulse
Celtic Dragons 23-76 Loughborough Lightning
Surrey Storm 35-52 Manchester Thunder
Celtic Dragons 38-52 Wasps
Severn Stars 34-54 Saracens Mavericks
Wasps 38-34 Saracens Mavericks
Leeds Rhinos Netball 47-66 Manchester Thunder

Match of Rounds 10 and 11

Here we're turning to the closest match of the weekend and the encounter between Wasps and Saracens Mavericks on Monday night.

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Fans of either team might want to watch this one back behind a pillow, but the way in which Wasps surged in the final quarter was impressive. Meanwhile, Mavericks will rue not being able to keep their foot to the floor during the fourth quarter, despite their enforced personnel change.

Throughout the match, there were some outstanding interceptions, the elevation and presence of Josie Huckle is quite something and Iona Christian performed extremely well at Centre for Wasps. But, when Mavs put their foot to the floor in attack, it was sublime to watch.

Player of Rounds 10 and 11

Image: Donnell Wallam returned to court for the first time after breaking her radius bone at the start of the season (Image Credit - Ben Lumley)

This week, we're handing out this award to someone who returned from injury during Round 10 and looked like she had never been away.

Leeds Rhinos Netball's Donnell Wallam was outstanding on Friday evening against Team Bath Netball. Wallam did not miss a beat and she looked sharper than ever.

It must have been incredibly tough to arrive as an import player and then get injured during the first weekend of action, but with the support of Rhinos, it looks like Wallam has remained positive.

As a team, Rhinos did not deliver on Monday against Thunder and Wallam was not as effective as she had been on Friday, but that should not take away from her return. There is still a lot more to come from their Australian shooter, and from Dan Ryan's team as a whole.

Performance of Rounds 10 and 11

Image: Sara Bayman's team kept their foot on the accelerator for the full 48 minutes (Image Credit - Morgan Harlow)

When a Vitality Netball Superleague team put 76 goals on the board during a 48-minute match, then you need to doff your cap to them.

On Sunday afternoon, Sara Bayman's Loughborough Lightning were ruthless against Celtic Dragons. They started fast and then got better as the game went on, highlighted by the 44-11 second-half score.

The feeds into Mary Cholhok were almost unstoppable and during the match she put up 52 of her 58 attempts at goal. Equally in defence, they were able to read Dragons like a book and secure turnover ball.

Vitality Netball Superleague - Round 12 Fixtures

Sunday, April 25 at 12pm Celtic Dragons vs Team Bath Netball Streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel
Sunday, April 25 at 2pm Severn Stars vs Strathclyde Sirens Streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel
Sunday, April 25 at 4pm Saracens Mavericks vs Leeds Rhinos Netball Streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel
Sunday, April 25 at 6pm Wasps vs Loughborough Lightning Streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel
Monday, April 26 at 5.15pm Wasps vs Severn Stars Live on Sky Sports Mix and streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel
Monday, April 26 at 7.15pm Surrey Storm vs London Pulse Live on Sky Sports Mix and streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel

The View on Social Media

After their tough day at the office on Saturday, Celtic Dragons put in a much-improved performance against Wasps the day after.

Although they were defeated, they hustled hard, chased down every loose ball and only lost the second half by four goals. Afterwards, Clare Jones took to social media to share a few thoughts about her team, who go into the second half of the season still looking for their first win.

Sadly, on Monday, Severn Stars released a statement saying that Bethan Dyke would miss the remainder of the 2021 season, after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury to her right knee against Dragons.

As soon as the news broke, social media was filled with best wishes for Dyke's speedy recovery.

Thank you, Wakefield. See you soon London!

So, after 11 rounds of Superleague netball, the time has come for the doors to close in Wakefield.

The venue and the way in which the league has been managed at Studio 001, has taken the competition to new heights. Players and coaches have praised how well they have been looked after, and with one central venue being used, every match has been able to be shown live on Sky Sports' platforms.

From the visual look and feel to the behind-the-scenes logistics, there has has been a great deal of positivity surrounding the competition's 11 rounds in the north of England.

Now, it is the turn of the Copper Box Arena in London to continue to raise the bar for England's elite competition and after a short break, the action will restart with Celtic Dragons taking on Team Bath Netball on Sunday, April 25.

Sky Sports is your home of netball. The Vitality Netball Superleague continues on Sunday, April 25 with Round 12 and four back-to-back matches, streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel from 12pm.

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