Celtic Dragons did what they could to wrestle a win away from Hertfordshire Mavericks in Cardiff in their final game of the FIAT Netball Superleague, but it was the table-toppers who stood firm to win 49-41.
“It was a good game,” adjudged Mavericks’ head coach Maggie Jackson, “it was good to blow cobwebs away which we obviously needed to do. It was a hard, tight, man on man game.”
The Dragon’s boss Melissa Hyndman will be pleased to hear that as that was very much her plan going into the game: “We wanted to hit them hard and then stay strong, cut their drives off and for us to drive on to the ball and then finish off well.”
The first quarter was claimed by the home-side so the first part of the plan was accomplished and the third part was successful for long periods of the game but did the Dragons stay strong? Well, they didn’t crumble as some teams have against the high-flying Hertfordshire side this season, and were competitive in defeat
“I think they had to work really hard mentally against us as well” mused Melissa Hyndman, “when we hit them hard we forced errors and they had some bad judgement.”
Mavericks close the regular season on Sunday with a home game derby against Surrey Storm, who will finish fourth in the table and Maggie Jackson admits a battle with Dragons was suitable preparation: “It’s always good to have a good hard game to sharp up but it will be a different style to tomorrow
“Today, we played the way we know we can play and we sent plenty of ball to Monique and Louisa, and we were better with our mid-court defence (than they had been).
And it’s the last game for Celtic Dragons who will finish in 6th for the second year running but with more wins and more to be proud of this term, which keeps the coach content: “I’m happy with the game it’s a good way to finish the season,” said Melissa, “We stopped them from playing their game for a while and I think we gave them a great match.
“Now the next important thing is to wait until the end of August when the teams are confirmed for next season.”
