Surrey Storm Netball’s unbeaten run in the 2017 Vitality Netball Superleague season came to an end on Saturday evening as Tamsin Greenway’s Wasps side took a well-fought 51-58 win in the Tom Reseigh Trophy.
The regular season fixture was played in memory of former Storm Team Manager Tom, who sadly passed away last October, with a number of players on both sides having played under his management during the back-to-back championship winning seasons.
"Tom did so much for netball at Storm and netball worldwide and he is sorely missed" said Wasps captain and former Storm skipper Hannah Reid during an emotional post-game tribute to Reseigh, whose wife Sarah and Mum Chris were in attendance for the crunch match.
A number of familiar faces lined up for Wasps in their starting seven, including former Storm stars Rachel Dunn, Sophia Candappa, Bongiwe Msomi, Amy Flanagan, Josie Huckle and captain Reid. Director of Netball Tania Hoffman opted to make two changes to her starting seven from the win over Celtic Dragons, bringing Naida Hutchinson back in at GK and Mikki Austin at C.
The opening exchanges were very much goal for goal, with shooters at both ends of the court looking on form and ready for the battle. Wasps broke away by a couple of goals late into the period, before Katy Holland intercepted to allow Storm to tie the game at 14-all at the end of the first quarter.
Wasps again edged in front early on in Q2 until Hutchinson picked off a rebound at 16-14 to allow Austin to feed Craig with a superb ball for a goal. Harris and Craig continued to work hard in the attack to keep goals flowing, but passing errors in the mid-court were costing Storm chances to take the lead and it was the visitors who were able to hold a 26-29 advantage at half time.
It didn’t take Storm long to peg the deficit back in Q3. Within minutes it was 30-all and a tense goal for goal period followed. Both sides were effortlessly scoring goals but still the home side struggled to complete every transition to the attacking end. The mistakes proved costly in Q3 as Wasps extended their lead to 6 with one quarter remaining (37-43).
A Storm interception kicked off Q4 and gave the home fans hope of a comeback. Wasps responded with their own as Rachel Dunn and Natalie Haythornthwaite continued to be clinical under the goal. As the clock ticked down all hopes of a comeback fizzled out, and it was the Superleague debutants who took home a win to end Storm’s impressive run of victories despite an incredible gutsy from the hosts. Final score – 51-58.
Storm travel across the border to Sirens (2pm centre-pass) for round 8 next Saturday as they go look to restart their winning form.
Player of the Match: Katie Harris
Storm starting 7:
GS Craig
GA Harris
WA Lees
C Austin
WD Sutherland
GD Holland
GK Hutchinson
Changes for Storm: Parsons to WA (Q3), Lees to WA (Q4)
Wasps starting 7:
GS Dunn
GA Haythornthwaite
WA Candappa
C Msomi
WD Flanagan
GD Reid
GK Huckle
Changes for Wasps: Flanagan to C, May to WA, Msomi to WD (all Q4)
Quarter scores:
Q1: 14-14
Q2: 26-29 (12-15)
Q3: 37-43 (11-14)
Q4: 51-58 (14-15)
Storm shooting stats:
Craig – 33/43, 77%
Harris – 18/24, 75%
Team – 51/67, 76%
Wasps shooting stats:
Dunn – 46/50, 92%
Haythornthwaite – 12/18, 67%
Team – 58/68, 85%
Storm stats:
Hutchinson – 4 intercepts, 6 rebounds
Holland – 2 intercepts, 1 rebound
Craig – 6 rebounds
Harris – 2 rebounds
Sutherland – 1 intercept
Team – 7 intercepts, 15 rebounds
Wasps stats:
Huckle – 5 intercepts, 6 rebounds
Reid – 4 intercepts
Flanagan – 3 intercepts
Dunn, Haythornthwaite, May, Msomi – 1 intercept
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