Team Bath need to make the most of their home advantage against Hertfordshire Mavericks no Thursday (29 March) to kick-start their campaign in the top tier of the Fiat Netball Superleague, says head coach Jess Garland.
The team return to action at home at the Team Bath Arena against Mavericks, after losing their second top tier game on Saturday when they went down 62-39 at Northern Thunder.
But Garland says she is convinced her young side can still go all the way and win the title.
³I still think we¹re capable of going all the way,² she said. ³If we do that we¹ll be a team that¹s done it with the least wins under our belts, but the most amount of learning.
"We¹re still in with a shout,² she added. ³If we can learn and learn quickly, there¹s nothing to stop us going all the way. I genuinely believe that everyone in the top tier is beatable.²
And Team Bath can start that with a victory over a Mavericks side that have also lost both of their opening top tier fixtures to date.
³We were beating Mavericks for most of the game when we played them in phase one, and we had more attempts than them, but we ended up losing by two," said Garland. "It was probably one of our best performances of the season, so we can go into the game with confidence.
³Both teams will be looking at this as a critical fixture to try to get into third place in the league. It¹s not now or never, but it is really important for us. We need to use our home advantage to try to get us over the finishing line. ³
Team Bath were ahead against Northern Thunder after 20 minutes of Saturday¹s game, but ended up going down as Thunder ran away with the points.
³We proved we could start well on Saturday and that was a massive step forward for us,² said Garland.
The pre-match entertainment for Thursday¹s game gets underway at 7.15pm.
For further details and ticket information, please see the Team Bath website at http://www.teambath.com/sport/netball/superleague/
Meanwhile, two members of Team Bath¹s current Superleague squad have been named in the England under-21 training squad to prepare for next year¹s World Youth Championships.
Sam Cook and Yasmin Parsons feature in the training squad along with Team Bath¹s Rosie Allison, who featured in the team¹s 2010 and 2011 Superleague campaigns and is overseas this year.
Jess Garland will be the team¹s assistant coach and there will be further opportunities for the selection to the squad in the build-up to the championships, which take place in Glasgow.
For further information please contact the Team Bath press office at Matchtight Ltd on 01225 383518 or by email at [email protected]
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