Saracens Mavericks fell to a disappointing first defeat of the Netball Superleague season at the third attempt.

After a draw and a victory they made the trip to Surrey Storm, returning from Guildford after a 59-48 loss.

The Hatfield side would have been hoping to pick up where they left off one week earlier, starting with an unchanged line-up from the clash against Leeds Rhinos.

However, despite a solid start for Camilla Buchanan’s side, the hosts soon took control of the game and pulled away in the second half.

That opening though saw the Mavs come out of the blocks quickly, immediately turning over Storm’s first centre pass.

And the first quarter continued well for them, capitalising on the mistakes that Storm were making and executing their own game plan well.

There was a signature Emma Thacker goal and a well-worked team goal thanks to Kira Rothwell and it gave Mavs a one-goal buffer at the first interval.

They went goal for goal in the second period, but with Storm cutting out their mistakes of earlier, the home side were able to push clear by three goals.

But from there, Storm pushed on and it caused the Mavericks to cough up possession too often.

Britney Clarke came on and she did add a positive dynamic to the shooting circle, but Storm still had the ball more often and a three-point lead became six going into the final quarter.

That went out more and more and as the lead extended Mavs became more frantic and didn’t look after the ball the way they had done in the first half.

One positive was the return of South African international Ine-Mari Venter after injury.

She fell straight back into her shooting rhythm, netting within 30 seconds of being on court in the fourth quarter.

It means Saracens can call on four excellent shooters for the remainder of the season.

Reigning champions Loughborough Lightning visit Hertfordshire Sports Village on Sunday.