Dragons Out To Breathe Fire Against Team Bath

Celtic Dragons are fired up for their second Vitality Netball Superleague fixture of the season.

Their Green Army fans will turn out in force for the home clash with Team Bath at the Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff on Monday (7pm).

Dragons were beaten 61-49 by benecosMavericks in their opening match when their second quarter performance was decisive.

The teams fought out a highly competitive opening period, but

Captain Suzy Drane and her Dragons finished strongly, winning the final quarter 16-13, but were bitterly disappointed after the defeat.

Dragons have trained hard, analysed that opening performance and have addressed issues which arose against Mavericks.

Interim coach Natalie Pepperell has worked with her team to ensure they come out hard and fast against a strong Bath team.

There were positives for Welsh club Dragons with the new pairing of Cara Lea Moseley and Sarah Llewelyn offered plenty of energy and Dragons led midway through the period.

A critical Mavericks turnover midway through the quarter that gave the visitors the impetus to take a three-goal lead at the interval and that gave Mavericks the lift they needed.

Leila Thomas and Kelly Morgan were dogged in defence, while Nia Jones was vocal in encouraging the Dragons players throughout. Georgia Rowe replaced Cara Lea Moseley at GS for the second half, while Amanda Varey went on for Kyra Jones at centre and Drane went in for Thomas. Jones moved back to GD.

There was only one goal in it during the third with Dragons able to increase defensive pressure and disrupt the flow of the visitor’s game. Rowe found some good fluency at goal and, thanks to a Suzy Drane interception, the Dragons began to make an impression on the Mavs defence with only a late away goal giving the visitors an edge.

There was an abundance of passion and drive from Devils in the final quarter they cut the deficit with an encouraging team display.

Centre Kyra Jones said: “We started off really well and the first quarter was very good, but then we had a bit of a lapse in the second.

“We came back in the third and fourth and did what we should have done in the second.

“We always look forward to playing Team Bath. It is always a physical fight. We will have to be dogged and fight all the way through the 60 minutes.”

Match stats: Dragons v Mavericks

Player of the Match: Nia Jones (Celtic Dragons WD/GD).

Quarter scores (Dragons first): 11-14 (11-14); 7-18 (18-32); 15-16 (33-48); 16-13 (49-61)

Celtic Dragons: CL Moseley, S Llewelyn, B Dyke, K Jones, N Jones, L Thomas, K Morgan. Reps: S Bell, S Drane [capt], M Powell, G Rowe, A Varey.

Benecos Mavericks: K Bailey, A Travis, S Corbin [C], M Drayne, Z Everitt, L Keable, S Artman. Reps: S Collard, C Drakeford, G Marshall, K McColin, F Wells.

Bath won 52-39 in their opening Superleague match, at Team Northumbria,

The Blue and Gold from Bath, sponsored by Sitec, won three quarters and were edged out by just one goal in the other as they came through an intense opening match at Newcastle’s Sport Central.

Match stats: Northumbria v Bath

Team Northumbria: GS Tamsin Moala, GA Chiara Semple, WA Ashleigh Neal, C Francine Hall, WD Paige Kindred, GD Toni Anderson, GK Hayley Mulherson. Replacements: Sophie Hankin, Emily Hollingworth, Iman Thomas.

Goals: Moala 23/29, Neal 10/10, Semple 6/7

Team Bath: GS Chelsea Lewis, GA Kadeen Corbin, WA Rachel Shaw, C Mia Ritchie, WD Imogen Allison, GD Layla Guscoth, GK Eboni Beckford-Chambers. Replacements: Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, Asha Francis, Tash Pavelin, Paige Reed, Jess Shaw.

Goals: Lewis 21/25, Corbin 19/25, Drakeford-Lewis 10/11, Reed 2/2.

Bath’s Eboni Beckford-Chambers and Kadeen Corbin have been selected by Team England for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

It will be a third Games for Blue and Gold captain Beckford-Chambers, who helped England win bronze at Delhi in 2010 before they narrowly missed out on a medal at Glasgow 2014.

Both are vastly experienced on the international stage and last month helped England defeat New Zealand and South Africa, while they also pushed World Champions Australia all the way. That earned a best-ever second-placed finish in the Quad Series.

Wales are in England’s pool for the Games along with New Zealand, Malawi, Wales, Scotland and Uganda.

Vitality Netball Superleague:

Round one results: Team Northumbria 39, Team Bath 52; Severn Stars 47, Manchester Thunder 48; Loughborough Lightning 55, UWS Sirens 44; Wasps Netball 68, Surrey Storm 43; Celtic Dragons 49, benecosMavericks 61.

Round two fixtures:

Saturday, February 17: Severn Stars v Wasps Netball (6pm), Team Northumbria v Loughborough Lightning (6pm).

Monday, February 19: Celtic Dragons v Team Bath (7pm), Manchester Thunder v UWS Sirens, live on Sky Sports (7pm), benecosMavericks v Surrey Storm (7.30pm).

Tickets are available for Monday’s match. Click on this link for details http://tinyurl.com/y7q4q5ul  Don’t forget, college and uni students also qualify for ticket concessions.