Netball Super League: Unbeaten Surrey Storm reclaim top spot, Manchester Thunder bounce back

Storm finished seventh last season but sit top having won all five matches this season

Surrey Storm came from behind to maintain their unbeaten Super League run with a tightly contested 68-56 victory over Saracens Mavericks.

Mavericks led by two at half-time but Storm limited them to just 22 second-half goals.

"We were in the changing room for the first half," said Storm player-coach Mikki Austin.

Mavericks fatigued as the game wore on, having lost 68-51 to Loughborough Lightning on Friday.

Victory saw Storm reclaim top spot in the Super League table from Lightning, though Austin's side have played one game more.

"Mavericks are a classy side and not someone easy to get rid of. We had to stay mentally and physically in the contest and I was really proud of our third-quarter turnaround," Austin told Sky Sports.

Storm silenced Mavericks shooter Ine-Mari Venter in the second period and Austin stuck with her favoured shooting combination of Proscovia Peace and Sophie Drakeford-Lewis to rack up the goals at the other end - Peace scoring 45 and Drakeford-Lewis adding 23.

Elsewhere, defending champions Manchester Thunder bounced back from their loss to Storm last week to inflict a first defeat of the season on London Pulse at the Copper Box.

Thunder started well, scoring 32 goals to Pulse's 24 in a composed first-half showing which gave the home side too much to do in the second half, despite a much-improved performance.

South Africa shooter Lenize Potgieter scored all 38 of her attempts, while captain Natalie Metcalf dictated play in mid-court as Thunder's experience shone through.

On Friday, Severn Stars put their match against Celtic Dragons out of sight with a dominant 16-6 third-quarter performance to record a comfortable 61-40 victory.

Team Bath also survived a late push from Strathclyde Sirens to edge a close contest 49-48, their first victory of the season.

• Super League scores and fixtures

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'I would pick Williams for World Cup'

Lightning's Fran Williams continued to stake her claim for a place in England's World Cup squad as her side beat Mavericks 68-51 on Friday.

The defender turned over seven balls and won five interceptions in Lightning's fourth victory of the season.

"I love playing in this unit - we work together so well. They're all team intercepts out there," she said.

Williams linked well with mid-courters Hannah Joseph and Natalie Panagarry to win the ball and work it up the court to goal shooter Mary Cholhok, who scored 52 goals from 59 shots.

"We've got so much room to grow, we're building game-on-game. We have so many different styles and combinations and real strength in this side," Williams told Sky Sports.

Williams has 28 England caps and represented the Roses at the 2019 World Cup

The 25-year-old has been awarded player of the match in three out of Lightning's four matches this season, and her impressive form continues to show England coach Jess Thirlby why she should be heading to South Africa in July.

Williams did not feature in England's Commonwealth Games squad last year, but retirements since the tournament mean spots in the Roses' defence are up for grabs.

Manchester Thunder coach Karen Greig, commentating on Sky Sports, said: "Fran is a very unassuming player. People don't realise how effective she actually is, but she is starting to win a lot of ball.

"She works really hard, she reads the game really well. At this moment I would pick her for the World Cup.

"We have a long way to go but she is definitely putting her hand up and saying 'pick me'."

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