Netball Superleague: Thunder beat Mavericks & Wasps in round five

Manchester Thunder maintained their unbeaten record, and ended that of their top of the table rivals Saracens Mavericks, in a gripping 59-56 encounter.

Team Bath struggled their way to a 48-45 victory over Severn Stars.

Loughborough Lightning continued their winning run with a 61-48 win over Strathclyde Sirens.

Elsewhere, Surrey Storm and London Pulse also picked up wins in round five.

Stars pushed Bath, who have lost two of their five Superleague games this season, as New Zealand shooter Cat Tuivaiti made her first appearance since having children - but the five-time champions managed to squeeze past their south-west rivals.

Pulse secured their third win of the season with a 50-37 victory over Celtic Dragons, who are still without a win in this campaign, while Rhinos fell to a 58-49 defeat by Storm as the league's top goalscorer, Ugandan Peace Proscovia, racked up 56 of their 58 goals.

Thunder extended their lead at the top of the league to six points when they beat Wasps 71-51 in Manchester two days after their win over Mavericks.

Thunder head coach Karen Greig called a tough battle between Mavericks and Thunder a "nailbiter".

Both sides were level on points and separated only by a 42-goal difference in favour of Thunder before the match, with the Black and Yellows coming out on top in their past five meetings.

Thunder led 32-29 at half-time after the game went goal for goal for much of the opening 30 minutes, but Mavericks were tenacious and swings in momentum throughout the third quarter saw them keep pace with the three-time champions - although they still trailed by two goals with one quarter to play.

With five minutes to go and without goal attack Kadeen Corbin - who went off in the third quarter with a leg injury - Mavericks defender Razia Quashie made a crucial interception and Mavericks managed to chase down Thunder's lead, eventually levelling the scores.

But every time Mavericks were within touching distance, Thunder, who have scored more than 70 goals in four of their five matches this season, kept their composure to ignore the partisan crowd and take the game away from the London side.

Both sides boast shooting prowess with England Rose Eleanor Cardwell racking up the bulk of Thunder's goals with 38 and Malawi international Joyce Mvula adding 20 of her own, while prolific South African shooter Ine-Mari Venter managed 42 goals for Mavericks.

"Anyone who was here saw a fantastic game of netball, it was well contested across the whole 60 minutes and to coach it felt like a game of chess," Greig said.

"We came out slow in that third quarter and we had to make some changes. Thankfully those changes made an impact and we were able to claw it back - I am pleased with the girls for that.

"I am not so happy with the consistency. Ultimately we are still making silly errors under pressure, so there are things to work on.

"But overall we knew it was going to be tough, Mavericks have been very consistent this year, so we are happy to take the win," she added.

Reigning champions Lightning's win over Sirens sees Mavericks drop to third and Lightning also have a game in hand, after their match against Rhinos on the opening weekend of the season was postponed because of Covid cases and injury in the Rhinos camp.

Round five

Friday, 25 February

Strathclyde Sirens 48-61 Loughborough Lightning

Saturday, 26 February

London Pulse 50-37 Celtic Dragons

Saracens Mavericks 56-59 Manchester Thunder

Severn Stars 45-48 Team Bath

Surrey Storm 58-49 Leeds Rhinos

Monday, 28 February

Manchester Thunder 71-51 Wasps