Severn Stars beat UWS Sirens in Vitality netball Superleague
Thunder lose for first time as Superleague takes a break for the Commonwealth Games in Australia
Sunday 18 March 2018 20:01, UK
Severn Stars secured their maiden win in the Vitality Superleague after a thumping victory at UWS Sirens on Friday night.
Sirens were back in their Emirates Arena home as they chased a second win of the season, but it was the Midlands side who claimed a convincing 66-46 win in their third away match in six days.
Experienced England international Sara Bayman was among the Scottish side's new recruits, but their clutch of international stars were unable to cope with Stars' turnover ball and some top-quality shooting from Eleanor Cardwell.
Sam Bird's Stars made the more assured start and led 17-13 at the end of the first quarter before stretching their advantage by 10 goals to 33-22 by half-time.
The visitors moved 51-35 ahead at the end of the third quarter and completed a thoroughly professional job to earn their first win by 20 goals.
"It's about time, isn't it?" said player of the match, Sam Cook. "We were not going to travel all this way to get a loss. We're really, really relieved and tired. Now we know what it feels like to win."
"The things we've been working on and we've been doing in training and haven't been able to execute in a game finally came together," said head coach Bird.
Also on Friday, Manchester Thunder lost their 100 per cent record in a surprise 52-49 defeat to benecos Mavericks, who moved above their opponents into second spot the table.
In the rest of the Round Seven action, Loughborough Lightning suffered a 59-54 defeat to Team Bath in a repeat of last year's semi-final on Saturday, while in Newcastle Surrey Storm picked up their first win of the season as they overcame Team Northumbria 64-47.
Wasps Netball made it an emphatic eight wins from eight games as they crushed Celtic Dragons 74-32 on Sunday.
Tamsin Greenway's team have played one game more than most of their rivals after a victory over neighbours Stars on Monday night - a game brought forward from Round 10.
The Dragons arrived at the Ricoh in form having won back-to-back games against Surrey Storm and Stars, but found Wasps too tough to handle.
The Vitality Superleague returns on Sunday, April 22, with Wasps Netball in action against Team Bath. Coverage gets underway from 2.45pm on Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Mix, which you can find on channel 287, and is free for all Sky customers.
Follow the 2018 Superleague season with us on Sky Sports and through our website skysports.com/Netball with news, previews, reports and expert analysis throughout the season. And also our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkyNetball - #BelieveTheHype
