Kat Ratnapala 'really proud' after Saracens Mavericks' victory against Team Bath
Team Bath head coach Jess Thirlby says her side must approach final two games of regular season like grand finals
Monday 22 April 2019 11:44, UK
Saracens Mavericks head coach Kat Ratnapala says her side believe they can qualify for the Netball Superleague semi-finals after they "stepped up and delivered" in their must-win match against top-four rivals Team Bath.
Mavs maintained their hopes of reaching the end-of-season play-offs with a 51-45 against third-place Bath at Coventry's Ricoh Arena, in the final match of the Big Easter Weekend programme.
Back-to-back victories over Celtic Dragons and Bath have moved Ratnapala's side to within three points of fourth-place Loughborough Lightning in the league with two match remaining of the regular season.
"The message was loud and clear from the start," Ratnapala, who impressed the importance to her side of making their own destiny before the match, told Sky Sports.
"I had full belief in every single player that they could come on and deliver a job. They stepped up and delivered.
"A lot of stuff has been said about us - obviously they (the players) are hearing it, they are reading it."
When pressed on the perceived criticism, she added: "Things about our game, our opportunities and how we are not taking them.
"I am really proud of them."
Ratnapala, whose side missed out on the play-offs in fifth last season, knows her side must continue to keep up the pressure as they prepare to host Severn Stars on Saturday, live on Sky Sports, before finishing the campaign at home against Strathclyde Sirens.
"We came fifth last year and I didn't want to have the same outcome and it may still be the same outcome. We have still got a job to do and Sirens had a good win this weekend. There's still lots to do. Stars did a good job against Storm so there is still lots of work to do but it has given the players belief and that is the main thing. We had a run of four losses and it is a nice feeling to get a win."
Bath counterpart Jess Thirlby rued her side's error count and failure to capitalise on errors from their opponents as last year's semi-finalists suffered defeat.
Thirlby, who will leave the club at the end of the season, visits second-place Manchester Thunder in a pivotal fixture on Saturday before hosting bottom-of-the-table London Pulse in their final game.
"We have had to treat every game over the last couple of rounds as a big grand final," Thirlby said.
"You are talking four or five goals, it is not a big margin but it counts. We have got to find ways to close out games like that and the error count is still too high.
"It is costing us and we are working on it but we have two sixty-minute matches. It is time to actually put it out there now."
The Vitality Superleague continues on Sky Sports on Saturday, April 27, when Saracens Mavericks take on Severn Stars from 3.45pm on Sky Sports Mix with just two rounds of the season to go before the Play-Offs on Saturday, May 11.
