Stars produce comeback to beat Bath

The Blue & Gold led 17-11 after the first 15 minutes at the Team Bath Arena on Easter Saturday but were unable to maintain the momentum.

Stars, marshalled by experienced player-coach Jo Trip, tightened up defensively and turned the game on its head by half-time.

Jayda Pechova enjoyed an excellent battle with South African goal-shooter Sigi Burger but Stars were able to keep pushing on and had stretched their lead to nine goals by the end of the third quarter before seeing out a 61-51 victory.

A tentative start to the game saw possession change hands several times thanks to a combination of turnovers and errors but neither team was able to take advantage until midway through the first quarter when Team Bath finally edged a couple of goals clear.

They went on to score five in a row as good defensive pressure from Pechova and Lily-May Catling was converted by Betsy Creak and Kadeen Corbin, who produced some confident finishes from distance.

All the action from our win over Team Bath on Saturday 🤩🧡

📸 @benlumleyphoto pic.twitter.com/2s24BojmJV

— Severn Stars NSL (@SevernStars) April 10, 2023

A loose pass allowed Stars to cut the gap to one but Team Bath were looking strong across the court, epitomised by a fantastic take at full-stretch and long-range finish from Corbin, as they stretched their advantage to 17-11.

Sophie Kelly was introduced at goal-attack for the second quarter and netted the first goal after an athletic interception at the other end of the court from fellow University of Bath sporting scholar Pechova.

Stars also made a switch in defence, with Trip moving to goal-keeper and Jess Haynes coming at goal-defence.

Phenomenal feeder ☄️

Congratulations to @JessicaShaw_ , your @GilbertNetball Player of the Match 🏅

Shaw notched up an incredible 46 feeds for @SevernStars, alongside 2 interceptions and 2 turnovers 🤯#NSL2023 l #GetSomeNet pic.twitter.com/PPSF53PbaR

— Netball Super League (@NetballSL) April 8, 2023

And the impact was instant as they began to crank up the pressure with Bath struggling to feed their attackers and their lead was wiped out with four minutes of the quarter remaining.

Play became scrappy again and neither team was able to net for the next couple of minutes but Stars managed to edge ahead with three quickfire goals from Burger.

Trip's side extended their lead to eight goals as the home side were unable to build any sustained momentum and found themselves trailing 44-35 going into the final quarter.

Summer Artman came on at goal-keeper against her former club for the final 15 minutes but it was Stars who remained on top and a run of seven goals from eight saw them push their lead out for the 61-51 win.

Report provided by Team Bath Netball

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