TeamBath followed up their narrow win over Hertfordshire Mavericks at the beginning of the week with a more comprehensive 55-31 Co-operative Netball Superleague win over Celtic Dragons on Friday night. It was a dominant performance at the Sports Training Village at Bath University, described by assistant team coach Anna Mayes as a "positive preparation towards the match with Surrey Storm".
Kirsty Delves started at shooter in a line-up that changed every quarter and saw nearly the entire bench stretch their legs and allowed TeamBath to try a variety of combinations on the court. Ahead by four goals after fifteen minutes and seven by half-time it is not surprising that Pamela Cookey was rested for the final quarter after her team stretched the lead by another ten goals in the third section of the match.
A positive start by the welsh-side was cancelled out by the highly efficient TeamBath who seem to be more than coping with the pre-season shuffiing of personnel. Former Dragons Amanda Trounce and Lindsey Keable no doubt
were able to pass on strategic information after changing colours in the off-season.
The third quarter really summed up the strength of the reigning champions; young Rosie Allison came on at shooter and nailed 12 of her 14 shots helping the home side win the battle with the Dragons 17-7 in that 15 minutes. This is a very capable young squad that appears to be able to turn up the temperature when needed.
Although there are numerous matches to be rescheduled after the heavy snow, at the moment the next game TeamBath are scheduled to play is against key rivals this term, Surrey Storm on the 29th January. After edging it against Mavericks away from home, TeamBath could take a giant step towards deciding the season with a win in Guildford.
