Wasps Netball claim historic first win

Tamsin Greenway’s side made the long trip to a sold-out Emirates Arena in Glasgow with all eyes, including the TV cameras, on them and their opponents Sirens.

After a tense start in the first quarter where they trailed 13-12, Wasps Netball asserted their quality in the second period and opened up a ten goal cushion for the majority of the game.

Despite the result, Greenway believes a change of mindset is in order for her team.

She said: “The first game nerves from both the players and myself made things a little bit edgy, and rightly so as it was our first game and was a big occasion for us, so I’m really pleased with the performance.

“My frustration was when we were ten goals up I wanted them to play with confidence and enjoy it.

“Moving forward we’ve got to enjoy when we are in the lead because that’s what netball is all about.

“I’ve been overloading the players and putting them into a lot of pressured situations so sometimes they go out there with a lot on their minds rather than getting into the flow of the game.

“That’s something for me to think about as well, I’ve got to give them the right information where they can just get on and play and do what they need.”

Both sides came out of the blocks in the opening stages - with Sirens goal shooter Carla Borrego and Wasps Netball’s attacking duo George Fisher and Rachel Dunn trading goals - as the home side finished the first quarter just ahead at 13-12.

Wasps found their rhythm in the second quarter, and with some sharp interceptions from Sam May, George Fisher and Rachel Dunn pounced to open up a 13 goal lead.

Sirens showed resilience in the third period to limit Wasps to a ten goal lead, with the home side’s goal shooter Borrego hitting 12 goals.

The accurate passing range of Natalie Haythornthwaite and Bongi Msomi up to goal shooter Rachel Dunn stemmed any threat from Sirens though in the fourth quarter, as Dunn finished the game strongly with 13 goals in the final 15 minutes.

Wasps Netball’s first home game at the Ricoh Arena is against Hertfordshire Mavericks on 5 March (6pm centre-pass), but before that they play Team Northumbria at Birmingham’s Genting Arena on 25 February (4pm centre-pass) as part of the Super Ten Weekend.