Bath out shine Storm who get one more shot at the final.
The winning team were to be rewarded with a safe passage straight through to the grand final, the loser was all set to face Hertfordshire Mavericks who won the 3rd v 4th placed playoff last night in Bury in a scintillating last minute epic. So the stage was all set for another netballing classic, except Team Bath had other ideas about that.
The visitors started in sensational fashion with some powerful throughout court driving and set out their physical intensions from the off. Stacey Francis and Eboni Beckford-Chambers instantly made their presence felt as Storm had anticipated and they threw everything at stopping the feed to sharp Storm shooter Rachel Dunn. The reigning champions were quick to react to even a sniff of a chance whilst Storm took time to regain their composure and capitalise on the turnovers they produced. Bath’s hard work was rewarded with a massive 19-8 lead at quarter time, whilst Storm’s errors gave them it all to do.
Storm came out fighting in the 2nd period. Much talk before the game was about where Surrey would start key playmaker Tamsin Greenway and following many changes by Head Coach Mary Beardwood, Tamsin added an injection of pace and creativity to the mid court instantly after changing from the wing to the centre. The Captain chased down everything and played her heart out in the mid court whist Gemma Wiseman on at wing attack provided better options. Storm were improving with Dunn finding her range but at 17-25 a Bath Time out and injury to Jo Binns saw Bath’s Jess Garland change Corbin to Centre and Binns to Wing Attack, as well as further changes in defence. The break certainly stifled Storm’s momentum who only scored 2 more goals in the period whilst Pamela Cookey remained cool and classy despite Natalie Seaton working the England shooter harder.
Half time saw more changes from Storm, most noticeably Greenway to Goal Attack which had an instant effect for the home side. Her feeding to Dunn was far more direct and her movement provided more openings for her England teammate. Storm started the charge having their best spell in the match. Dunn was back in the game with 14 from 15 attempts and Storm drew the quarter 15-15.
It wasn’t enough to break the Bath wall though and the patches of brilliance today were patchy, where as Bath were consistently good throughout. Pamela Cookey and Sasha Corbin provided lightning pace and skill whilst the defence rarely gave the Storm attack in inch. Even Hannah Reid’s outstanding defending in the final quarter for Surrey could not be converted consistently and a further blow to the home side saw England shooter Rachel Dunn hobble off injured in the final fifteen. Thankfully for Storm, the injury does not appear serious and Dunn is expected to make a full recovery in time for next week’s playoff versus Mavericks.
So reigning champions Bath sealed their place in the final with an assured performance whilst Storm aim to regain their thoughts after an inconsistent display. Head Coach Mary Beardwood stated; “We made so many turnovers in the opening quarter but made so many errors, we can’t expect to start like that at this level and not be punished. We did some good things but not consistently and that is something we will work on for next week. As far as I am concerned we forget it about that match now, it’s gone, we now must re group, re focus in time for next week and that is exactly what we will do”.
Captain Tamsin Greenway added; “Obviously I am disappointed, we didn’t do ourselves justice and all credit to Bath for playing so well but we have one more chance and must remember that. We haven’t got the top of the league this year for nothing and we know we have the potential to do far better. We’ll re group and learn by the errors we made today and will come out fighting next week”.
Surrey Storm will now have another shot at making the final. They will play Hertfordshire Mavericks next weekend in a second playoff fixture. Confirmation of the match times and dates will be released shortly.
