Vitality Netball Superleague: Round 13 preview
Loughborough Lightning vs Surrey Storm is live on Sky Sports Mix on Monday from 6.45pm and will be streamed live on the Sky Sports YouTube channel
Thursday 11 April 2019 17:17, UK
There's no room for error as Round 13 of the Vitality Netball Superleague arrives in town, and Sky Sports will be bringing you another bumper Monday evening of coverage.
The table remains closely compact - Manchester Thunder's cushion above the rest stands at just three points before Wasps Netball, Team Bath, and Loughborough Lightning follow on 27 points.
In fifth, Saracens Mavericks aren't out of the top-four hunt either, and performances from all of the other sides in the table have the ability to shake things up too.
On Monday, Loughborough Lightning's clash with Surrey Storm will be live on Sky Sports Mix and will be streamed live on the Sky Sports YouTube channel.
You do not have to be a Sky subscriber to watch the stream; it can be accessed via the Sky Sports website or by downloading the Sky Sports app.
- iOS users: Download the Sky Sports app from the App Store
- Android users: Download the Sky Sports app from the Play Store
London Pulse vs Saracens Mavericks - Saturday at 5pm
London Pulse's Round 12 saw them overpowered by the defending champions and suffer a heavy 67-35 defeat at the Ricoh Arena. However, there's little time to dwell on that because they're about to face a hurting Mavs outfit.
Leading into Round 12, Mavericks and Loughborough Lightning both knew that one would slip down the table at full time, and Kat Ratnapala's side initially put themselves in a position for it not to be them.
However, they weren't able to hold onto their half-time lead, and a slower finish to the match meant that it was them who dropped into fifth.
With respect to Pulse, they are a different proposition, and Mavs' strength all over the court should see them confidently brush aside their disappointment at the Copper Box Arena even without the loss of Gabby Marshall to injury.
Manchester Thunder vs Celtic Dragons - Saturday at 5pm
Table-toppers Manchester Thunder were critical of their 62-36 victory over Sirens - a sign of the high standards they hold.
"Patchy" was the word used by player-of-the-match Liana Leota and director of netball Karen Greig, but it was a case of job done regardless.
Dragons' single-goal defeat to Stars hurt them, and even more so because they held a five-goal advantage going into the last quarter.
"It's a difficult one to swallow," said Abby Tyrrell on Celtic Dragons' Facebook account.
"I think that Chelsea [Lewis] coming off [injured] and also Dee [Bolakoro] having to go off with a blood injury affected the team as a whole, because the squad that was on originally then had to change the way that they play.
"We've just got to learn to deal with injuries and not let it go to our head."
On Saturday, the visitors to Belle Vue will be hopeful that they won't have to contend with any more disruptions, because Thunder will punish them severely on the board if they are derailed again.
Severn Stars vs Strathclyde Sirens - Saturday at 6pm
Stars will be on a down following a wave of positive emotion from their last match, having suffered a three-point deduction following an inadvertent breach of regulation.
In Round 12, Sam Bird's team put in an impressive last-quarter run to put the game beyond Dragons, and the head coach was content post-match.
"I'm delighted with their determination and resilience to take the win," said Bird. "The players responded so well and clawed their way back into the match, and put out an amazing nine goal run together in the last quarter.
In Glasgow, Sirens found themselves undone by errors and missed shots against a ruthless Thunder.
Post-match, Gail Parata said that they'd made a "classy" side look even better. Here in Round 13, it will be all about showing their true capabilities on the road. Individuals will be eager to step up, as will the team as a whole.
Wasps Netball vs Team Bath - Saturday at 6pm
In Round 12, Wasps returned to winning ways at the Ricoh Arena, clinically putting away London Pulse.
"It was a good win for us, this game was all about getting some belief back in the team," said Mel Mansfield, reflecting on their Round 12 match.
"I was delighted that they pushed on and won by a big margin. It wasn't the finished article, but we've got a lot of rounds to go yet to perfect our play.
"It was really important we didn't have any lapses of concentration, we kept the foot on the pedal throughout, and overall I'm really pleased with the performance."
The visitors to the Ricoh Arena put in "a big squad performance" against Surrey Storm, according to head coach Jess Thirlby, and eight unanswered goals straight after the interval ultimately helped them deliver their Round 12 'W'.
Bath felt that they had a score to settle after their six-goal loss to Storm in Round Three and will be eager to put their best foot forwards against the defending champions as they start a difficult run-in.
Bath have meetings with all of the top sides on the cards between now and the end of the season, so starting off on the right note will be key.
Loughborough Lightning vs Surrey Storm - Monday at 7pm live on Sky Sports Mix and streamed on Sky Sports' YouTube channel
This Monday's encounter from the Sir David Wallace Arena is the second of our matches that will be live streamed on Sky Sports' YouTube channel as well as being live on Sky Sports Mix.
Lightning are firmly in their groove and are one of the form teams of the competition. They have won their last seven matches in succession, and last lost on February 9.
Storm's Round 12 brought "moments of greatness" and "some moments of inconsistency", according to their director of netball - evening them out will be as critical as quelling the speed of the ball into Mary Cholhok.
Watch more Vitality Netball Superleague as Loughborough Lightning host Surrey Storm live on Sky Sports Mix on Monday, April 8 and the match will be streamed live on the Sky Sports YouTube channel. Also, Sky Sports will be showing every game of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup in July.
