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- May Madness Rocks Celtic Dragons’ Superleague Hopes
Cardiff-based Celtic Dragons have been hit for six in their quest to climb the Vitality Netball Superleague table.
Dragons have been knocked off balance during a damaging May Madness run which saw them lose all six matches played.
There have been seven fixtures in total since Wales returned from the Commonwealth Games in Australia during April and Dragons have lost the lot.
They went down 65-43 in their latest fixture, against UWS Sirens at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow last night, and are already preparing for a another long trip this Saturday.
Dragons travel to Team Northumbria for a crunch Superleague clash. The Welsh club are bottom of the table, but they are level on points with Northumbria and know a win in the North East of England would be a massive plus.
Sirens took advantage of another poor start from Dragons to take a 16-9 lead into the second quarter and the half-time score was 33-21.
The home team won all four quarters and left their visitors facing a long, difficult trip back to Wales.
Sirens goalkeeper and player of the match Nicole Aiken Pinnock was in outstanding form for the Scottish hosts, whose starting seven was: GS Shantal Slater, GA Vanessa Walker, WA Samantha Murphy, C Sara Bayman, WD Claire Brownie, GD Emily Nicholl, GK Nicole Aiken Pinnock.
Centre Sara Bayman and goal-shooter Shantal Slater formed a potent partnership as Sirens took control, while wing-defence Claire Brownie shut down Dragons in mid-court for lengthy spells.
Both Sirens and Dragons are in action on Saturday (June 2). Dragons travel to Team Northumbria in a bottom of the table clash, while the Sirens make the trip to Surrey Storm.
Quarter scores (Sirens first): 16-9; 17-12 (33-21); 14-13 (47-34); 18-9 (65-43).
Celtic Dragons fixtures and results
February
Monday 12: Celtic Dragons 49, benecosMavericks 61
Saturday 17: Celtic Dragons 35, Team Bath 54
Saturday 24: Loughborough Lightning 69, Celtic Dragons 45
Monday 26: Celtic Dragons 55, Surrey Storm 50
March
Saturday 3: Manchester Thunder v Celtic Dragons (postponed, rearranged for June 11, 7pm)
Saturday 10: Celtic Dragons 49, Severn Stars 40
Sunday 18: Wasps Netball 74, Celtic Dragons 32
April
Saturday 28: Celtic Dragons 51 Team Northumbria 56
May
Friday 4: Team Bath 66, Celtic Dragons 39
Monday 7: Surrey Storm 70, Celtic Dragons 42
Monday 14: Celtic Dragons 38, Loughborough Lightning 66
Saturday 19: benecosMavericks 68, Celtic Dragons 36
Friday 25: Celtic Dragons 38, Manchester Thunder 78
Monday 28: UWS Sirens 65, Celtic Dragons 43
June
Saturday 2: Team Northumbria v Celtic Dragons, 6pm
Saturday 9: Celtic Dragons v Wasps Netball, 4pm
Monday 11: Manchester Thunder v Celtic Dragons, (Wright Robinson College, 7pm)
Saturday 16: Celtic Dragons v UWS Sirens, 4pm
Monday 25: Severn Stars v Celtic Dragons, 7:30pm
VITALITY SUPERLEAGUE 2018
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | + | – | +/- | GA | Pts |
| 1 | Wasps Netball | 13 | 12 | 1 | 823 | 591 | 232 | 1.39 | 36 |
| 2 | Loughborough Lightning | 14 | 11 | 3 | 827 | 673 | 154 | 1.23 | 33 |
| 3 | Manchester Thunder | 13 | 10 | 3 | 759 | 657 | 102 | 1.16 | 30 |
| 4 | benecosMavericks | 13 | 10 | 3 | 739 | 638 | 101 | 1.16 | 30 |
| 5 | Team Bath | 13 | 9 | 4 | 679 | 615 | 64 | 1.10 | 27 |
| 6 | Severn Stars | 14 | 5 | 9 | 676 | 713 | -37 | 0.95 | 15 |
| 7 | Surrey Storm | 14 | 3 | 11 | 714 | 776 | -62 | 0.92 | 9 |
| 8 | UWS Sirens | 13 | 3 | 10 | 593 | 712 | -119 | 0.83 | 9 |
| 9 | Team Northumbria | 14 | 2 | 12 | 630 | 800 | -170 | 0.79 | 6 |
| 10 | Celtic Dragons | 13 | 2 | 11 | 552 | 817 | -265 | 0.68 | 6 |
