Saracens Mavericks beat Leeds Rhinos in Superleague

The Mavs had gone down on day one to Severn Stars, in the league's grand opening at Nottingham.

But seven days on they were at their Hertfordshire Sports Village home to take on Leeds Rhinos.

And with a raucous sell-out crowd roaring them on, they battled to a 62-57 win in a match which was never one-way traffic.

The home side led at the end of each quarter but never by more than the five-points advantage they finished the game with.

Head coach Camilla Buchanan wasn't just happy with the win though and pointed to the lessons learned from the loss to the Stars and the character of the squad.

Speaking on the club website, she said: "When we stuck to our structures and looked to break down the defensive line, it worked.

"For the most part they showed some real grit to get through some messy moments."

Sasha Corbin, in her 10th year as captain of the Hatfield side, was in complete agreement with her boss.

She said: "We had a really good week of training this week, knowing what we were going to come up against.

"Our structures were sound this time, we really stuck to what we wanted to do.

"We’re really connecting as a group and I’m loving how we’re building each week so we’re happy with the win but we know we’ve got so much more to give.

"But we’re really pleased that we managed to get over the line."

Defensive superstar, Jodie Gibson, had wanted the crowd to play their part too.

She said: "My favourite thing about playing netball at this level is being able to play home fixtures in front of an incredible Saracens Mavericks crowd.

"Our fans are our eighth player. They bring the noise and the energy every single match."

Mavericks moved up to fifth in the standings but face their first big test, with back-to-back away games on Friday and Saturday against the league's top two teams.

They go to Loughborough Lightning first before travelling to Surrey Storm.

The next home game is against Celtic Dragons on March 4.