Mavs Men Win Debut Game
Thames Mavericks made the long journey to RAF Cosford on Saturday for a day of netball with the Royal Air Force teams and fellow EMMNA National League club, West Cheshire Warriors. The Mavs mixed team came away with more wins, and a gritty comeback to snatch a draw against the RAF's premier women's team but it was Mavericks' men's team, in their debut game, that impressed. Playing West Cheshire's men for half a match and then RAF's men for the second half, Mavericks ran out convincing 31-17 winners.
West Cheshire took the first centre pass of the match but Mavericks turned the ball over immediately and crisp passing through court got the ball quickly to the Mavs' England U25 shooting duo of Jacob Kirby (goal attack) and Joe White (goal shooter). White's strength in the air against the Cheshire defenders and Kirby's fast movement around the circle gave Nardus Nel (wing attack) and Chay February (centre) plenty of opportunity to vary their passes into the shooting circle and Kirby and White rewarded them every time.
Strong defence from Toby Garbett (goal defence) and Rob Lockwood (goalkeeper) denied Cheshire the chance to get back into the game and careful play from Jacob Reilly-Cooper (wing defence) ensured that Mavs retained possession and frustrated Cheshire's attempts to get back on terms. At the midway break, the Mavericks were leading 13-7.
When RAF Men replaced Cheshire at half-time, Mavs adapted quickly to a new style of play. RAF were, unsurprisingly, fast on the break down court but pressure from the Mavericks forced errors from the military team. Kirby and February won ball in the midcourt whilst under the RAF post, Lockwood and Garbett challenged for every rebound and picked up lots of defensive wins for Mavs.
A slight injury to Nel meant that Kalvin Saranna came on at wing attack for the Mavericks and his height allowed Mavs to pass freely to him at the circle edge from the midcourt. Saranna then delivered the ball to Kirby and White with pinpoint precision. Mavericks kept the pressure on right through this half and were rewarded for their hard work, winning the second half of the match against RAF 18-10 and giving Mavericks a final winning score of 31-17.
Then came the round-robin of fast, short matches, so Mavericks switched to their mixed team lineup for this portion of the afternoon and were rewarded with more excellent results.
A few highlights of the afternoon's play were the Mavs mixed team beating the RAF men with standout performances from Chloe Reschwamm in the midcourt and Natalie Stacey in defence. Bea Barefield shot well from long range and Olivia Westerberg harried her opposite number into making numerous wayward passes.
But it was the final match of the day that gave Mavs the most to cheer and silenced the RAF crowd on the sidelines. The RAF women's top team looked to be set for a win against the Mavericks, holding a 7-goal lead at half-time. However, some incredible play from the Mavericks in the last portion of the game swung the momentum in favour of the visitors.
Kirby, now playing centre, won some vital interceptions for the Mavs and these lifted the whole team who turned on the style in the final minutes. White, at goal attack, partnered Daveena Saranna (goal shooter) and they shot impeccably against the strong and agile RAF defenders. At the other end of the court, Stacey and Lockwood forced the RAF shooters into several misses and Reschwamm, Reilly-Cooper and Kirby then broke into attack to deliver the ball quickly into the Mavs shooters. With just a handful of seconds to spare in what was an already short match, Mavs sealed the draw 11-11.
Speaking afterwards, Jacob Kirby said:
"We had several aims for this day of netball - we wanted to win our men's match, against two teams we'll no doubt face in August's National Championships, and we wanted more wins for our mixed team too. We came away happy with our results and we've got some things to work more on in training so that we can go into our first National League matches in March knowing we've prepared well. The whole club is looking forward to the challenge."
Thames Mavericks make the short journey to Aldershot on Sunday to take on the Army's men's and mixed teams.