Netball Superleague: Bath emerge victorious over reigning champions Thunder

Bath's win over Thunder puts them six points clear at the top of the table

Team Bath recorded a crucial win over reigning champions Manchester Thunder to make it two wins from two on a double-header Superleague weekend.

Bath head coach Anna Stembridge was "proud" to emerge victorious in a "hotly contested" match.

Loughborough Lightning stay second after beating Saracens Mavericks.

Celtic Dragons held their nerve to register their first win at the 14th time of asking with victory over out-of-form Surrey Storm.

• Catch up with round 12 of the Netball Superleague

Thunder and Bath both won their respective first matches of the weekend as the Black and Yellows overcame a tough test against London Pulse, edging a 52-40 win, while Bath beat fellow top-four opposition Wasps by just four goals.

When faced with each other, Bath put on a performance worthy of their league position, despite trailing heading into the final quarter, and punished Thunder, who looked panicked at times.

Leeds Rhinos won their first match of the bumper weekend with a 69-51 victory over Strathclyde Sirens, who had beat Pulse the previous day to go within four points of Rhinos.

Wasps chased Rhinos from the first whistle in their second loss of the weekend as a desperate last quarter cost them the match and Rhinos outmuscled the two-time Superleague champions, winning by 10 goals.

Third-from-bottom Severn Stars inflicted a second defeat of the weekend on Storm, who are without a win since round three when they beat Dragons.

Mavericks, who had lost four of their previous five games, picked up a much needed win over a confident Dragons side fresh from victory over Storm and continue their hunt for a top-four spot.

Game of the week - Thunder 41-44 Bath

Manchester Thunder are third in the league while Team Bath are top

The last time these two sides faced each other was in round five and Thunder head coach Karen Greig said they "didn't play like Thunder" as Bath blew them away with a 60-35 win.

Looking for revenge, the Black and Yellows started well and held a five-goal lead after the opening 12 minutes, but Bath kept their composure and as half-time rolled around they had drawn back level.

With the match poised at 23-23, Thunder held strong and defenders Kerry Almond and Emma Dovey stood up to shooters Kim Borger and Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, with the latter being largely edged out of the game.

In the final quarter, in which Thunder led by two goals, they looked static. Bath's mid-court looked lively and crucial interceptions from Serena Guthrie and Imogen Allison proved to be Thunder's undoing.

Thunder struggled to replicate Bath's energy and seemed panicked in the final few minutes, misplacing passes and overplaying at times rather than getting the ball to goal quickly.

Head coach Greig said it was a "disappointing" result but that her side's performance was "100 times better than it was in round five - we defended hard but lost our heads in the last five minutes and that's where it was won and lost for us".

She added: "We can't underestimate what Bath do, they're a fantastic team."

How is the league shaping up?

Now that the Superleague has passed the halfway point, we are starting to get a better idea of who is going to finish where - with the top seven franchises pulling away and forming a noticeable gap between themselves and the bottom four sides.

Bath's victory over Thunder may not have necessarily affected the current standings or the state of the top four, but it provides us with a good indicator of things to come at the end of the season - the team that finishes first will play the team in fourth spot and second place will play third in the semi-finals.

A victory for Thunder would have seen them draw level on points with Lightning, who last reached a Grand Final in 2018 where they were beaten by Wasps.

That being said, it would be foolish to rule out an impressive Lightning side who have lost just two matches all season and have been consistently well drilled by head coach Sara Bayman.

At this point, it seems unlikely that the top three will drop out of the play-off places, but that coveted fourth place is still very much up for grabs.

Rhinos staked a claim for the top four with their win over Wasps on Monday, after they also beat fellow play-off contenders Mavericks - who are three points off fourth-placed Wasps - in round 12.

Sirens continue to impress and could achieve their strongest finish to a Superleague season if they can win three of their remaining six matches - the Scottish outfit finished sixth in 2017 with a total of 27 points.

As for the rest of the table, there is a dramatic gap between seventh-place Sirens, who have 20 points, and the bottom four of Pulse, Stars, Storm and Dragons.

With Dragons putting their first win of the season on the board and exhibiting some promising performances against Bath and Wasps, they will be hoping to capitalise on Storm's poor form and get off the bottom of the table.

Results & fixtures

Round 13 and 14

Friday, 30 April

Surrey Storm 39-48 Celtic Dragons

Saracens Mavericks 47-55 Loughborough Lightning

Saturday, 1 May

Surrey Storm 39-46 Severn Stars

London Pulse 38-48 Strathclyde Sirens

Saracens Mavericks 59-39 Celtic Dragons

Sunday, 2 May

Strathclyde Sirens 51-69 Leeds Rhinos

London Pulse 42-50 Manchester Thunder

Team Bath 41-37 Wasps

Monday, 3 May

Manchester Thunder 41-44 Team Bath

Leeds Rhinos 51-41 Wasps