Praise from the boss for ‘phenomenal’ Saracens Mavericks as frustrations are used to beat Surrey Storm
Saracens Mavericks' George Fisher in action against Surrey Storm in the Netball Superleague. Picture: STEVE PORTER PHOTOGRAPHY - Credit: Archant
A beaming Kat Ratnapala hailed her Saracens Mavericks players after they channelled all their frustrations into a stunning performance against Surrey Storm.
Defeat seven days earlier to Manchester Thunder had left the Hatfield-based side’s director of netball hugely disappointed but after a slow start, the Mavs turned on the style in a 58-50 Superleague win.
And it keeps them firmly in the hunt for a place at the end of season play-offs.
She said: “We have had an unbelievable training week. It has been phenomenal.
“They really brought the energy after the loss to Thunder and some of the stuff came out today but not all of it.
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“It’s where we’re at right now. We need to push on.”
The victory at the Hertfordshire Sports Village was built on a stirring second-half effort.
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Trailing at the break, Mavericks came out fired up and it left the Storm, no slouches themselves, with simply no answers.
Ratnapala said: “This league has shown me you can’t underestimate any opposition. It is still wide-open.
“We didn’t play them with their two South African imports and they obviously made a huge difference.
“And Surrey really brought the game to us so fair play to them.
“We needed to dig deep and the changes at half-time certainly helped us move things forward.
“Having Michelle Drayne move to centre and Karyn Bailey come on as goal-shooter was great.”
With the Mavs moving their home games around, time is running out to see the side at their spiritual home at the University of Hertfordshire.
And as if sensing that, the raucous Hatfield crowd would have roared themselves hoarse in support of their heroes, creating a deafening roar at times.
It was a point not lost on the team’s boss.
“The home support is our eighth player but it is fantastic and they really were loud,” admitted Ratnapala.
“They got behind us and we love playing at out home at HSV.”
