Saracens Mavericks survived a late fightback by Strathclyde Sirens to capture a sixth Netball Superleague victory of the season.

They won 41-38 at the Hertfordshire Sports Village having seen a five-point advantage going into the fourth quarter whittled down to just one with 60 seconds to go.

However, roared on by the faithful, they found the fortitude to close out the success.

It was a result that seemed unlikely after the first quarter when they trailed 14-9 but Camilla Buchanan's side had again responded well to lead by the interval.

And the head coach was delighted with the mental strength of her troops.

She said: "We adapted really well within the game. It was a really uncomfortable match, and we felt the pressure.

"The response [to being behind after the first quarter] and the way we adapted to the pressure was really good.”

"We haven’t stepped up physically and mentally in those key moments this season but we did [against the Sirens].

"We knew that we would have to play for the full 60 minutes to beat them and we did."

The Hatfield-based Mavs were without their South African international forward, Ine-Mari Venter, which meant a start for Britney Clarke.

And once again she stepped up at shooter, to the delight of her boss.

"She was outstanding again in the way that she opened up that attacking end," said Buchanan.

"She took some serious hits but just brushed them off and got on with it. She was a real playmaker for us."

For the player, it has been a good week having been named player of the match in the previous outing against Loughborough.

She said: "I've felt like it's been a long time coming. I've been working really hard in training and trying to build those connections.

"Any opportunity I get, I just want to do my best."

"It was my first player of the match in a Superleague game and to get voted by the fans was just so sweet. It makes it extra special. It was something I wanted to tick off in my career too.

"The fans are here week in, week out. You see all these familiar faces and it's so nice to know that they are really watching and seeing my growth."

The win was part of the plan for Clarke but she also wanted to show that growth.

She said: "For me, it's about making the most of every opportunity that I get.

"As a team, we want to consolidate what we've been working on and really push for that full sixty minutes.

"We're not doing that at the moment and we've been quite slow in the first half.

"As a unit, we want to step out with our best foot forward first and put in a good performance for everyone that comes along."

Attention now turns to their trip to Worcester and a clash with Severn Stars on Saturday, a repeat of.

Top of the agenda for Buchanan is to eradicate the slow starts but as the fixture is the reverse of day one of the 2023 campaign, the head coach also wants to use it as a marker as to how far they have come this season.

She said: "The first quarter seems to be a bit of an issue for us at the moment so we will want to start really well against Stars.

"They were our first match of the season, so we’ve got a whole season’s worth of learning to put out on court.

"They’ve learnt a lot too but we want to be really tactically and physically strong in that opening quarter."