Netball Super League | Paige Reed ready for Severn Stars’ Mavericks encounter

Severn Stars shooter Paige Reed has acknowledged that her team goes into their next match against Saracens Mavericks as underdogs, but says that they are not going to back down to any team in the league.

The former England U21 international spoke as Stars looks to put vital points on the board on Monday 29 March when they face high-flying Mavericks, currently fourth in the Vitality Netball Superleague table, after a narrow loss in the last round.

Goal attack Reed said this will be a ‘very important’ match in which Stars would need to be clinical and play to their strengths.

“We are definitely underdogs which isn’t a bad thing at all,” she said. “We have nothing to lose and we aren’t going to back down to anyone in this league. Placings in the table at the moment aren’t relevant, it’s still early days.

“As players in a competitive environment of course it’s frustrating to lose games. We are progressing each session and game and that’s all we ask for from each other.”

Stars, a joint franchise between the University of Worcester and University of Gloucestershire, has had a mixed start to the season.

They got their first win against Surrey Storm earlier this month month and this was followed by a positive performance against leaders Team Bath Netball.

Despite coming close against VNSL newcomers Leeds Rhinos Netball, Stars were unable to claw back a four-goal advantage the opponents had opened up in the second quarter, leading to a recent 42-38 loss.

“I think the Mavericks game is very important for us,” said Reed. “It’s a chance to continue to keep building from our last performance and to rectify our wrongs. We are putting pressure on each other, but also ourselves as we expect better from each other after every session and game.

“Mavericks are a very strong side with talented individuals throughout the court, however we need to focus on their strength as units, for example defensively. We know they work well together in the circle so we need to combat this and cause a bit of a headache in there for them.

“It doesn’t mean we stop playing to our strengths, we just need to be clinical with our possession and play what is available rather than waiting for something or someone else to open up. We must ensure we go out hard from the start and refuse to take the foot off the gas.”

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