Netball: Saracens Mavericks 'schooled' at Strathclyde Sirens

The Hatfield-based side lost 71-47 in the Netball Superleague match in Glasgow, their fourth loss in the six matches so far this season.

And it was a result that nobody saw coming.

"It’s very frustrating," said Buchanan. "I'm a little bit lost for words. That wasn’t the team that I know.

"We lost by 24 goals and we played like it. We were schooled on the nigh, and we didn’t have the answers at times.

"There will be a lot of questions to ask ourselves.

"That second quarter, where we went 11 goals down wasn’t good enough. We didn’t respond quickly enough, and the unforced errors just summed it up."

Up until that second period, the Mavs were still very much in the game and were level at 15-15.

However, by half-time that had gone to 34-23 and by the end of the third, the advantage had stretched further to 55-36.

The fourth quarter was a little tighter but even here the Scottish club edged it by five points.

However, Buchanan could find some pleasure from the efforts off the bench from a number of her side, particularly Ellie Kelk and Christina Shaw who came into the fray alongside Jodie Gibson.

The boss said: "There were some people who really stepped up.

"Ellie did brilliantly. She came on and did exactly what we asked her to do.

"Jodie Gibson was a real leader, but there’s only so much ball you can win for your side.

"Christina as well. She came on and worked her socks off but it wasn’t enough."

Ine-Mari Venter also managed her 1,000th Superleague goal in the first quarter, which at that point had the Mavs ahead.

Saracens now they can't lick their wounds for too long though as they prepare for two games in three days.

They go to Team Bath on Friday night before hosting Manchester Thunder at the Hertfordshire Sports Village on Sunday.

That starts at 4pm.

Thunder are part of a quartet who have already established a six-point advantage in the charge towards the play-offs.