Share In the second game of the season opener at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, Scotland’s only Netball Super League franchise took on a newly built Surrey Storm. There have been big changes in squads across the league which has added an extra layer of excitement for fans waiting to see how this season plays out. With the departure of Gia Abernethy who retired at the end of 2022 season and Taylor McKevitt moving to reigning champions Manchester Thunder, there was a significant gap in the mid-court. The match started at a fast and furious pace with lots of strong contests between Vinkhumbo and Peace in the Storm shooting circle. Sirens took longer to settle and cement their connections which allowed Storm to take a 9 goal lead in the first quarter (20-11). Sirens defence picked up and created some much needed disruption in the Storm attacking end. The instruction from the bench was to break through the Storm mid-court and create some more space which the team managed to do and Q2 ended in a draw (37-28). Sirens started second half with Abi Robson coming on at Centre, taking her first Sirens cap. Unforced errors added up from Sirens as Storm opened the gap in Q3. It was almost impossible to defend the overhead ball into Peace. A change of goal keeper saw Vinkhumbo come back on and Natalie Bright coming on at GD creating a new combination. McCall and Guscoth had a physical battle down the other end of the court and despite high shooting stats from both Goodwin and McCall, Storm opened their lead by 14 goals (57-43). Heading into the final quarter the relentless spirit of Sirens showed up. Creating the connections as a team in defence was a highlight for head coach, Lesley MacDonald. Vinkhumbo demonstrated her strength and experience with her footwork to block the ball finding Peace and Sirens rewarded her hard work pulling the score line back to 10 goals with a signature long-bomb from McCall. In final five minutes of the match, Stella Oyella made her Netball Super League debut as all three new signings came onto court together. In true Sirens style, the team fought hard until the final whistle, taking the score to 68-56 in favour of Storm. Lesley MacDonald reflected on the Season Opener: "I am disappointed with the loss however, for the large majority I felt that we competed and contested the match and the players kept to task with what we asked of them. "Giving away a lead of 9 goals in the first quarter meant we were always going to be chasing to turn the scoreboard in our favour. The response we gave in the second quarter was awesome. We stuck to task for longer periods and challenged everything. Winning that final quarter creates really good momentum going into the next match. "From an attacking perspective I was really impressed with how we got the ball to Bethan. We were slick, we used our ball speed and a constant variety of movement to lose the defenders and we knew how physical they would be. "Next focus is playing away to Stars on Saturday and taking the momentum we created here today and starting that match with it." Co-Captain Beth Dix added: "It was disappointing to start off like that, we wanted to come out here and step up earlier. I think we came back really well in the second quarter. We opened up the middle and I though Bethan’s release from the circle was really clear." Strathclyde Sirens play away to Severn Stars on Saturday 18 February at 7pm, live on Sky Sports YouTube. Gilbert Player of the Match - Sophie Drakeford-Lewis (Surrey Storm) Match Report provided by Strathclyde Sirens Share Tags: Surrey Storm Strathclyde Sirens