Elsewhere, reigning Vitality Superleague champions Manchester Thunder thrashed Celtic Dragons 99-40 in their pre-season match
Monday 9 December 2019 11:14, UK
Saracens Mavericks edged Team Bath Netball to take The BiG Showdown title while the reigning Vitality Superleague champions Manchester Thunder outlined their strength with a commanding pre-season victory in Deeside.
Kat Ratnapala's Mavericks held their nerve in the final of The BiG Showdown at the University of Bath to secure a 33-27 result and deny the home team a fifth straight crown in their annual pre-season tournament.
The final completed two days of scintillating netball as fellow Superleague sides, Severn Stars, Surrey Storm and Strathclyde Sirens joined the duo alongside the Knights men's team.
The majority of the clubs were taking their first steps onto court for competitive seven-a-side netball this pre-season, with four quarters of eight minutes being played for each match.
New signings across the board were given a chance to put on their club dresses for the first time.
Amongst those making debuts were Betsy Creek, Khanyisa Chawane and Fi Toner for the hosts, Surrey Storm introduced Leah Middleton and Niamh Cooper and Sirens introduced South African defender Zanele Vimbela.
I’m really happy in terms of the way the girls put out their performance. We wanted to make changes, gather more information, expose different combinations, expose different people, and it was pleasing to see.
There was a wealth of returning England Roses out on court too with national head coach, Jess Thirlby watching from the stands
After an intense international debut in South Africa, Sophie Drakeford-Lewis looked confident and comfortable in Bath's line-up. She linked superbly with the exceptional Kim Commane, put her shots up with ease and showed her versatility by moving to WA at points during the weekend.
George Fisher, Kadeen Corbin and the Roses training partner from South Africa, Gabby Marshall, all set the bar high for Mavs and look fit and sharp.
Severn Stars, who finished in sixth, played out their competition without a number of their new signings as Liana Leota, Ama Agbeze and Towera Vinkhumbo were all absent from their line-up.
However, the experienced Nia Jones led from the front and Paige Reed was a stalwart in their attacking end at GA.
On the sidelines, Melissa Bessell's assistant coach Sam Cook looked confident in her new role and was in full charge of their defensive systems and all defensive team talks.
The Knights men's team lined-up alongside the women and their athletic and aerial style of netball added so much to the competition.
The outfit were making their debut in the competition and were only denied a place in the final as a result of Mavs winning their final round-robin game. A third-place finished was richly deserved and highlighted their first-class skill-sets.
The Knights who had Dan Ryan in their ranks for day one before he was sidelined by a calf injury, were athletic, agile and delighted the 400-strong crowd with their vision and outstanding netball.
Meanwhile, in Deeside, Manchester Thunder's first outing of their pre-season campaign highlighted their considerable strength as they notched up a 59-goal victory over Celtic Dragons.
Karen Greig's outfit set out their stall from the first quarter with an 18-3 lead and by the final seconds were pushing for the magic number of 100 goals.
After making such an early imprint on the scoreboard, the only way was up for Thunder and a largely settled side also had returning Roses to call upon with Eleanor Cardwell and Laura Malcolm.
The scoreline looks concerning for Dragons however they are taking plenty of positives away from the hit out with their on-court captain, Sophie Morgan imploring them to build upon the 'passages of classy netball'.
"We were pushing for the 99 goals at the end there, we had a wobble and sold ourselves short but a great result overall in the 60 minutes," Greig said after Thunder's 99-40 victory.
"From centre all the way to goal keeper. We put Dragons under real pressure and it was good to see us taking risks, taking chances to come out and take those interceptions."
Sky Sports is your home of netball and live action returns with the Vitality Nations Cup in January 2020. The four-nation competition starts on January 19 with England taking on the world champions New Zealand.
