Round 17 of the Vitality Netball Superleague (VNSL) season saw high scoring and closely-contested matches. The ninth instalment of the ANZ Premiership provided edge-of-your-seat action and in the eighth round of Suncorp Super Netball (SSN), Vitality Roses went head-to-head as they continued to make their mark on the league.
Here’s how the Vitality Roses performed in all competitions…
VNSL Round 17
Jade Clarke’s Leeds Rhinos secured victory against Surrey Storm in nail-biting fashion.
After an end-to-end display, and with less than a minute to play, both sides were matched on 48 goals. Storm controlled possession but a long-distance pass destined for the Surrey side’s attack was expertly tipped away by Rhinos, who regained custody of the ball.
Through a flurry of passes, the ball was fed into the hands of Sigrid Burger, who scored much to the delight of the Rhinos fans to take a 49-48 win.
Celtic Dragons recorded their first home win of the season with a 57-51 victory over Severn Stars. Vitality Roses Technical Coach Liana Leota notched up 15 feeds for Stars but a low scoring third quarter for her side meant victory was just out of reach.
Strathclyde Sirens secured the win in their home match against Saracens Mavericks.
Despite the valiant efforts from Mavericks’ Razia Quashie, who totalled five deflections and three turnovers, Sirens ran out 57-50 winners.
Laura Malcolm’s Manchester Thunder put on another high-scoring performance as they netted 84 goals in their away encounter against Leeds Rhinos.
Thunder’s Eleanor Cardwell displayed excellent playmaking ability with 19 feeds into the circle.
After a fast-paced four quarters of action, the final score read 49-84 to Thunder.
Loughborough Lightning came out on top in their matchup against Team Bath with a 52-46 victory.
Lightning’s shooting partnership of Ella Clark and Emma Thacker, who was recently named in the Future Roses programme, had an undeniable impact on the match. Clark added 24 goals to the tally as Thacker scored 28 to contribute to the win.
ANZ Round Nine
George Fisher’s Southern Steel suffered defeat to Central Pulse in their Round Nine meeting.
Despite a positive start from Steel, they struggled to find the goal in the final quarter as Pulse recorded a 44-50 win.
SSN Round Eight
Eboni Usoro-Brown’s Queensland Firebirds were narrowly beaten by two goals in their encounter with Melbourne Vixens (66-64).
West Coast Fever led by five goals at fulltime in their fixture against Collingwood Magpies, Stacey Francis-Bayman’s Fever side netted 74 against Geva Mentor’s Magpies to earn themselves the victory (74-69)
Helen Housby scored 35 goals for NSW Swifts in their 43-52 win against Jo Harten’s GIANTS Netball.
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