Three matches took place in the UK’s Netball Super League this week, to complete Round 6 of the competition.
There was a new international star on the block this week, with Malawi Queen’s captain Caroline Mtukule making her Netball Super League and Team Bath debut.
Whilst at Manchester Thunder, young England Rose’s Amy Carter and Lois Pearson continued to impress in attack.
Make sure you are keeping an eye on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, where we will be bringing you clips of the action each week, asking you to vote for your favourite international player moment. Those in the UK can also watch selected matches live on Sky Sports.
Here is a quick re-cap of what happened in Round 6…
Team Bath 54 – 80 Surrey Storm
A final quarter masterclass from Storm saw them get back to winning ways and remain top of the table this weekend.
The hosts, Bath, brought the competition to the league leaders in the opening three quarters, forcing the first turnover of the match and taking an early three goal lead in the first quarter.
By the first break Storm had edged ahead to lead 18-17, with former Bath players and England Roses’ Layla Guscoth and Sophie Drakeford-Lewis playing their part for their new duck egg blue side.
Storm went on to win every quarter of the match, but it wasn’t until the last 15-minutes that they were able to pull away to secure the win 54-80, thanks to a 9-25 final quarter in their favour.
Despite not taking any points from the match, there was still lots to celebrate for Team Bath, with Malawi Queen, Caroline Mtukule, making her Netball Super League and Team Bath debut.
Mtukule was a key part of the Malawi Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games team, and in her first appearance for Bath she made an interception almost straight away showing just why she’s earnt her place in the Super League and giving the netball family a hint of what is to come from her this season.
Leeds Rhinos 52 – 67 Manchester Thunder
Leeds Rhinos were left still searching for their first win following their Round 6 defeat to Manchester Thunder.
The contest started off end-to-end with nothing separating the two teams at the first break, as they both took their time to settle into the match.
However, it was in the second and third quarters that Thunder found their rythmn, and soon started to pull ahead thanks to interceptions throughout the court from Amy Carter (England Rose), Iona Christian (Scottish Thistle), and Shadine Van Der Merwe (South Africa SPAR Protea).
Young England Rose Carter had an expectational game at centre, contributing in all areas of the court with two interceptions, two turnovers, and two deflections as well as 11 feeds to her name by the full whistle.
Another Future Rose that has really begun to bloom is Thunder shooter, Lois Pearson, who has shot at just under 94% so far this season and is linking up well with SPAR Protea Lenzie Potgieter in the shooting circle. This is a shooting partnership the netball family will be excited to watch grow over the coming weeks.
London Pulse 63 – 53 Strathclyde Sirens
London Pulse were back setting hearts racing at the Copper Box Arena on Monday evening when they welcomed Sirens for the final match of Round 6.
Off the back of beating league leaders Surrey Storm spirits were high in the Pulse camp, but Sirens were not about to give them an easy ride.
In the opening quarter the match went goal-for-goal, with both sets of players playing with confidence and speed throughout the court taking the ball down to their shooters.
The leagues’ top circle feeder, Beth Dix, was up to her usual tricks sending bullet passes into the Siren’s shooters helping her side stay neck and neck with Pulse.
Sam Bird’s Pulse side took a marginal one goal lead into the first break, but that only made Sirens come back out stronger with both Sirens and Pulses’ defence flying out the blocks for the second set of 15-minutes.
The Sirens international defensive duo of Scottish Thistle, Emily Nicholl, and Malawi Queen, Towera Vinkhumbo, continued to link up well marking the Pulse shooters tightly under the post, but there was just no stopping England Roses’ Olivia Tchine and Sacha McDonald once the ball was in their hands.
As if two England Rose shooters in your starting line-up wasn’t enough, Pulse were then able to bring on Berri Neil to goal attack, who helped Pulse go on a goal scoring spree in the second half.
Thanks to some accurate shooting and fluid attack, in the opening minutes of the 4th quarter Pulse were able to extend their lead to nine goals, which Neil then extended to 10 to finish the game, thanks to a long-range shot.
The victory moved Pulse back up to 2nd in the league table.
