Vitality Netball Superleague 2021: Loughborough Lightning and Saracens Mavericks victorious | Netball News

Vitality Netball Superleague coverage continues Sunday with the third inning; four consecutive matches will be broadcast on the Sky Sports YouTube channel, starting at 12 p.m. with Surrey Storm vs Leeds Rhinos Netball

Loughborough Lightning and Wasps Netball renewed their intense rivalry in their first game of the 2021 season

Loughborough Lightning started a thriller against Wasps Netball, while the Saracens Mavericks beat the injured Leeds Rhinos on Monday night at Studio 001 in Wakefield.

At the end of Vitality Netball Superleague’s opening weekend, fans were treated to two tense and hotly contested matches.

From now on, the 11 teams in the competition will have the opportunity to participate in their first events of the season, before returning to combat on Sunday and Monday with the third round of the competition.

Sunday’s four back-to-back games will be streamed live on Sky Sports’ YouTube channel, followed by Monday’s matches live on Sky Sports as well as being broadcast.

Thundering wasps in another classic

Over the years, the rivalry between Loughborough Lightning and Wasps Netball developed into a superb rivalry and the two teams delivered another thriller on Monday night.

The Wasps entered the game from the back of a plane against Severn Stars, while Lightning was narrowly on the wrong side of the result against Team Bath Netball.

Both head coaches had decided to stick with the same starting sevens, and both knew this competition had the potential to come down to the wire.

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Sara Bayman reflects on Loughborough Lightning’s single-goal win and thinks it was an important result for them

Although he conceded an early cross pass and a 3-1 drop, Lightning remained calm and fought off his rivals in the opening rally.

Eight minutes later, Iona Christian inspired the two-time champions to stand out again. As the ball came out of the field in third base, Christian’s superb save kept it in play, then she called it with a nice straight ball into Katie Harris moments later.

However, Lightning remained focused and determined in their work. They kept track 13-11 in the first break, then won the second quarter 11-10, aided by the firepower of Jas Odeogberin in defense and their ability to find Mary Cholhok well.

With the game balanced at 23-22 in favor of Wasps Netball at halftime, captain Sophia Candappa’s message was that the Wasps stick to their game plan, while Nat Panagarry wanted his Lightning team to learn from their mistakes on Sunday. and manages the “pressure cooker” correctly.

Even the third quarter, which is so often known as the “Championship Quarterback,” still couldn’t separate the two teams.

Instead, exceptional position battles continued, with Sam May doing everything possible to disrupt Rachel Dunn, and Beth Cobden and Candappa fighting each other.

Mel Mansfield decided to introduce Gezelle Allison to the GA just before the last break, and in the final quarter both teams won and gave a ball rolling.

With one minute left, the scores were locked at 42-42 and again at 43-43 with 39 seconds remaining on the clock. On the back of a final center pass from the Wasps, Lucy Parize stepped up for Lightning and forced what would become the game-winning turnover.

With Cholhok’s presence in the circle, she got the goal and with the benefit of being their center pass, Lightning duly rounded it and managed to secure a memorable 44-43 victory.

Mavericks beat injured Rhinos

The Saracens Mavericks took two of two wins in the opening weekend with a 43-39 result against a determined and injured Leeds Rhinos Netball.

After the peaks of a first win on Friday night, the Rhinos’ Dan Ryan referred to this competition as “a big challenge” and the Rhinos attacked their more experienced opponents from the start, with Vicki Oyesola producing key turnovers.

As was the case in the opening game of the night, both teams played at a good pace and did not let the other get away from them.

Jade Clarke and Sasha Corbin set the tone for their respective teams in the middle, while the long-awaited contest between Donnell Wallam and Razia Quashie was cooking up nicely.

After regaining their fluidity, the Rhinos were injured in the first and second quarters. Tuaine Keenan had to leave the pitch and make way for Paige Kindred, while Wallam walked away with what looked like a painful forearm injury in the second.

The result of Wallam’s departure was Sienna Rushton getting into the shooter mix and a distressed looking Wallam watching.

Meanwhile, Mavs had also decided to change their shooting options and they moved Kadeen Corbin to GA, with Britney Clarke taking her place at the shooter so Corbin created sparks around the court.

It remained tight, however, with the Mavericks holding a 22-20 halftime lead and a 33-31 three-quarter advantage.

In the final quarter, Kat Ratnapala’s side looked to capitalize on the disturbance the Rhinos had felt (which included injured Fi Toner in the third quarter) and as a collective they made good use of Britney Clarke’s presence in their circle. .

However, the Rhinos did not give in under the pressure and instead continued to ask questions of their opponents. Ultimately though, the Mavs kept the thin pad they created and ended the night on top.

Sport is your homeland of netball. The Vitality Netball Superleague continues Sunday with the third inning and four straight games available to watch on the Sky Sports YouTube channel starting at noon.