TeamBath Archive 2005/6

TeamBath Superleague Champions 2006

TeamBath 43-35 Mavericks
Match Report

TeamBath 55 - 54 Loughborough Lightning
Match Report

Northern Thunder 33 - 68 TeamBath
Match Report

Brunel Hurricanes 35 - 49 TeamBath
Match Report

TeamBath 71 - 21 Leeds Met Carnegie
Match Report

Celtic Dragons 15 - 54 TeamBath
Match Report

TeamBath 67 - 34 Team Northumbria
Match Report

Mavericks 31 - 55 TeamBath
Match Report

Loughborough Lightning 51 - 43 TeamBath
Match Report

TeamBath 68 - 31 Northern Thunder
Match Report

Brunel Hurricanes 38 - 57 TeamBath
Match Report

TeamBath 55 - 33 Celtic Dragons
Match Report

Team Northumbria 24 - 65 TeamBath
Match Report

TeamBath 50 - 27 Mavericks
Match Report

TeamBath 47 - 44 Loughborough Lightning
Match Report

TeamBath - Champions

TEAMBATH are the inaugural figleaves.com Superleague nethall champions after their 43-35 win over Mavericks in the final at Guildford's Spectrum Arena on Saturday 3rd June.

In an often-tense final they were just too powerful and composed for Mavericks who have grown in stature and substance since their early season defeats.

'We're absolutely thrilled', said coach Jan Crabtree after the match. 'This win hasn't just been about the work on court but also about the support and all the help we've had this season. Hats off to Mavericks, they competed until the end and made us work all the way through but we're all just delighted to have won the very first trophy'.

Billy Bowers, team captain, also paid tribute to the hard work of the players. 'We deserved it. We've shown all season what a great team-unit we are and all of our hard work has paid off today'.

Mavericks, though, were first to find their shape and rhythm in a tense opening few minutes. They raced to a 3-0 lead in the opening quarter, forcing TeamBath to play themselves in and fight back. The University of Bath-based side levelled at 3-3, took a goal lead and then emerged from a see-saw three minutes - during which their final passes to goal-shooter Rachel Dunn were too weighty - to move to a 9-4 lead.

Centre Debbie Jones and wing-attack Sasha Corbin were both in good form for Mavericks and Anne-Marie Muller was athletic in the circle for the Bedford-based team. With just under four minutes to go in the quarter Mavericks called a time-out, probably disturbing the Bath momentum, and pegged back the lead to 9-7.

A rapid-fire goal apiece in the final minute saw Bath reach the break 10-8 ahead. Goal-attack Anne-Marie Muller's final shot of that quarter for Mavericks was probably one of the best in the league so far this season. Taken quickly and from distance it went in clean without touching the hoop.

With the match nicely poised for the 900 spectators as a potential cliff-hanger, TeamBath returned for the second quarter and that was when they wreaked most of the damage. The South and South West Region representative side surged to a 20-11 lead with some fluid passing.

Wing-attack Tamsin Greenway was a key player in this period. Defensively TeamBath were strong whilst Dunn and Pamela Cookey won the tense battle in the circle against England defenders Amanda Newton and Jane Colbourne. TeamBath might have made more of their lead. Instead a few lapses and some good play from Mavericks made the score 22-15 at half-time.

In the third quarter Mavericks changed their shooting order with Lydnsey Armitage at goal-shooter, Louisa Brownfield moving to goal-attack and Anne-Marie Muller swapping to wing-attack. For the opening few minutes this proved effective. Meanwhile TeamBath brought Sonya Crowe on at centre to replace Jo Binns. For long stretches of play this was a period in which Mavericks circle defenders Colbourne and Newton swung the momentum back in their favour. TeamBath had to work very hard to get the ball into Cookey and Dunn.

At the other end for TeamBath, Geva Mentor made some telling interceptions and Billy Bowers, the TeamBath captain, alongside Clare Elsley worked tirelessly to make life hard for the Mavericks' attack. Gradually, TeamBath - only beaten once throughout their season's league campaign (that by Loughborough away) - eased into a bigger league. By the end of the quarter TeamBath were up by 32-23.

First blood went to Mavericks in the final quarter. Three goals in under 90 seconds put them firmly back into contention before Bath, with Binns back on at centre, settled into their shape once more. With seven minutes to go they were eight goals ahead. Dunn and Cookey both netted a crucial goal each to stretch the lead to ten. 40 seconds later England goal-defence Amanda Newton took a ball in the face and a time out followed.

Once again TeamBath took time to recover their concentration. Mavericks put four in to pull back to 33-39, showing the kind of fighting spirit that took them to an injury-time win against the more-favoured Loughborough in the previous week's play-off.

Credit to TeamBath, though, they held their nerve, and moved back into command at 42-34 with a minute to go. Both sides added one more goal to move the final score to 43-35.

Starting Sevens:

TeamBath: GS: Rachel Dunn; GA: Pamela Cookey; WA: Tamsin Greenway; C; Jo Binns; WD: Clare Elsley; GD: Billy Bowers (Capt); GK: Geva Mentor.
TeamBath Subs: Third quarter Sonya Crowe for Binns at C; final quarter - Binns for Crowe at centre.

Mavericks: GS: Louisa Brownfield; GA: Anne-Marie Muller, WA: Sasha Corbin, C: Debbie Jones, WD: Naomi Siddall; GD: Amanda Newton, GK: Janet Colbourne.
Mavericks subs: Third quarter: Armitage for Brownfield at GS; Brownfield for Muller at GA; Muller for Sasha Corbin at WA, Natalie Seaton for Siddall at WD, Heather Clarke for Brownfield at GA.

Thanks to Matchtight for this press release.

TeamBath vs Loughborough Lightning - Saturday 20th May

TeamBath are through to the final of the inaugural figleaves.com netball Superleague after defeating their great rivals Loughborough by just one goal, 55-54, after extra-time at the University of Bath Sports Training Village. At the end of full-time the score had finished 44-44.

It was just a question of having the confidence to hang in there and play in the way we know we can, said a relieved TeamBath coach Jan Crabtree after the match.

TeamBath will now meet the winner of the play-off on 27th May between Mavericks and Loughborough Lightning in the final on June 3rd at Guildford. The final, therefore, could be a repeat of Saturday's encounter

In a close-fought first quarter TeamBath trailed throughout except for a brief moment ten minutes into the match when they moved 8-6 ahead. It was then that they were punished for some flustered passing.

Alex Astle, Loughboroughís former England goal-shooter, was particularly effective on the receiving end of some great feeding into the circle whilst Rachel Dunn, for the home side, missed two that she would normally have sunk to leave the score at 13-9 to the visitors.

In a feisty second quarter the home side clawed their way back from 13-18 to level at 22-22 at the half-time whistle.

Geva Mentor snatched some critical rebounds and the home side steadied their centre-court approach to counter the Karen Aktinson and Alex Astle axis in the Loughborough attack.

For TeamBath Pamela Cookey, at goal-attack, moved up a gear and Dunn refound her accuracy. Tamsin Greenway, Jo Binns - on at centre for Sonya Crowe - and Clare Elsley put in an immense work-rate for TeamBath.

Team Bath drew first blood in the third quarter and Loughborough might have capitalised off two uncharacteristic errors from Bath captain Billy Bowers. Instead Bowers recoverd herself to intercept spectacularly and set Bath on a mini-run of four goals to go 27-22 ahead.

Having built the lead, though, the home team promptly threw it away. Under pressure they produced some bizarre long passes to Dunn which failed to reach the mark. Bath slid to 30-32 with three minutes of the quarter to go.

Dunn took a tumble in those dying minutes, after a robust challenge in the circle, and was taken off. Cookey replaced her at goal-shooter but the visitors drew marginally ahead to lead 36-33 at the end of the period.

In a cliff-hanging final quarter Loughborough moved ahead, Bath bit back and with five minutes to go the visitors led by just one goal 41-40. It could have tipped either way. Dunn will probably remember for ever the free shot she missed with four minutes to go.

Loughborough moved in a quick conter-attack to 42-40. Dunn made amends by netting a difficult ball with three minutes to go and Bath picked up a quick score to level at 42-42. Two minutes from time Bath won a turn-over and worked the ball patiently to Dunn who scored to give the home side a 43-42 lead.

Loughborough put one in through Astle to level at 43-43. One apiece in the dying seconds left both sides facing extra time with the score level at 44-44.

Bath brightened in the first period of extra time only slipping up twice towards the end by giving the ball away casually. They edged to a 47-44 lead which the visitors pegged back to 48-46 by half-time.

Seven minutes remaining and a nail-biting final period was in store for the home fans.

Somehow Bath built the moves to get the ball to Pamela Cookey, who had returned as goal-attack after a spell with Asha Tett in that role. She shot well under pressure to put Bath 52-50 ahead. In a see-saw final few minutes they held on and then played the clock down in the final minute of time to win by just one goal 55-54.

Starting Sevens:

TeamBath: GS: Rachel Dunn; GA: Pamela Cookey; WA: Tamsin Greenway; C; Sonya Crowe; WD: Clare Elsley; GD: Billy Bowers (Capt); GK: Geva Mentor.

TeamBath Subs: Second quarter: Jo Binns for Crowe at C; third quarter: Asha Tett for Cookey at GA; Cookey for Dunn (injured) at GS; final quarter: Dunn for Cookey at GS;

Loughborough Lightning: GS: Alex Astle; GA: Lisa Stephenson; WA: Karen Atkinson; C: Olivia Murphy (capt); WD: Charlotte OíNeill; GD: Laura Brown; GK: Hannah Reid.

Quarter scores (normal time -ath first): 9-13; 22-22; 33-36; 44-44
Extra time: (Bath first) 48-46; 55-54.

Thanks to Matchtight for this match report

TeamBath Vs Northern Thunder, 13th May 2006

TeamBath now top the final figleaves.com Netball Superleague table. They finished their league campaign on Saturday (13 May) with an impressive away 68-33 win over Northern Thunder.
The stage is now set for an electrifying match next weekend, when TeamBath will face Loughborough Lightning, the only team to defeat them during the season so far. Lightning took second place in the league, following a hard-fought 40-38 win over Brunel Hurricanes, after trailing for much of the game.

The play-offs take place at the University of Bath's Sports Training Village at 2pm and 4pm on Saturday (20 May). For ticket details please e-mail p.a.hawker@bath.ac.uk.

Thanks to Matchtight for this press release

TeamBath Vs Brunel Hurricanes, 5th May 2006

TeamBath beat Brunel Hurricanes 49-35 in their final league match of this year's figleaves.com Superleague - booking their place in the play-offs as table-toppers in the competition which features all the countryís top netballers. Brunel, West London's franchise, featured England players Chioma Ezeogu and Sonia Mkloma at wing-attack and goal-defence respectively. Whilst TeamBath fielded England shooters Rachel Dunn and Pamela Cookey and Geva Mentor in defence.

TeamBath raced to a 14-7 first quarter lead in a match of two contrasting styles. The home side have mastered a trademark fast and flat passing system whilst the opposition crafted some good, aerial moves especially down the middle of the court.

Brunel, often forced to shoot from distance by some great defensive work from Geva Mentor and Bath captain Billy Bowers, made no dent in the home side's lead in the second quarter which stood at 24-14 by half-time.

The visitors changed their centre and goal-attack for the third quarter whilst Jo Binns came on at centre for the home side. Bath soon re-adjusted to the new opposition line-up, though, and were 31-16 up after just a few minutes of play resuming. Brunel had a good spell mid-way through the quarter and the score moved to 39-25 in Bath's favour at the break.

It was more of the same in the final quarter with both sides playing well in patches and each making its share of errors in some robust clashes before TeamBath ran out winners.

"It was a difficult match which we're pleased to have won", said TeamBath's wing-attack Tamsin Greenway.

In the first round of play-offs, TeamBath now look set to face their huge rivals Loughborough who still have one match to play tomorrow. Loughborough are the only team to have beaten Bath this season so far.

This match will take place on 20 May at the University of Bath's Sports Training Village, giving TeamBath home advantage. The last time the two sides met at this venue only three goals separated them with Bath winning.

The winner will go straight through to this year's figleaves.com Superleague final with the losers playing the winner of the encounter between the third and fourth-placed teams for the right to the second slot in the final.

Starting Sevens

TeamBath: GS: Rachel Dunn; GA: Pamela Cookey; WA: Tamsin Greenway; C: Sonya Crowe; WD: Clare Elsley; GD: Billy Bowers; GK: Geva Mentor
TeamBath substitutes: Half-time: Jo Binns for Crowe at C.

Brunel Hurricanes: GS: Jose Leutton; GA: Nicola Darby; WA: Chioma Ezeogu; C: Katie Nichols; WD: Becky Nash; GD: Sonia Mkoloma; GK: Naida Hutchinson

Thanks to Matchtight for this match report

TeamBath Vs Leeds Met Carnegie, 28th April 2006

The home side, TeamBath, went off like a coiled spring in the first quarter - as if they were spending pent-up energy built during the break in the league whilst their English and Welsh players were off on Commonwealth Games duty in Australia.

They led 8-0 after five frantic minutes of some awesome athleticism and accurate shooting.

"We've all come back together from different places and we were all eager to get on court and concentrate on winning tonight", said Team Bath captain Billy Bowers of the match played in front of over 500 spectators thanks in large part to an enthusiastic Gloucester-based initiative.

Goal-attack Tamsin Greenway was the stand-out player shooting 14 of the 19. Goal-shooter Rachel Dunn proved her growing athleticism with some great retrievals whilst Jess Garland featured in a series of smooth linking moves from wing-attack.

Leeds Met struggled to match the pace and robustness of the TeamBath side. Six minutes had gone before they registered a score. After eleven minutes they took a second and snatched a third just before the whistle to close the quarter.

The visitors started better in the second quarter, notching up three within the first two minutes of play resuming to double their first quarter score.

TeamBath brought on Pamela Cookey at goal-shooter - replacing one England shooter with another - and whilst the tempo dropped in the match overall, TeamBath still moved to 35-10 by half-time.

TeamBath coach Jan Crabtree rang the changes in quarter three. She moved Pamela Cookey to goal-attack and Tamsin Greenway to wing-attack. Rachel Dunn came back on as goal-shooter. In defence, Bianca Modeste took over from the ever-present and determined Elsley at wing-defence who promptly moved to centre whilst Stacey Francis came on at goal-keeper for Geva Mentor.

Different line-up, same result. TeamBath moved further ahead. With eight minutes gone they were 47-11 up and two minutes later Rachel Dunn made it 50 after two previous misses. Leeds Met swapped goal-shooter and goal defence and whilst they definitely stemmed the speed of the tide, they were still overwhelmed. The 500-strong crowd were treated to further rapid-fire play from both sides in the final quarter during which Team Bath shuffled the pack once more to bring on Asha Tett at goal-attack and Leeds Met enjoyed their brightest period moving from 15-61 to 20-68.

The less experienced TeamBath line-up were not quite so dominant but still from the match court-time to bring the final score to 71-21.

Starting seven

TeamBath: GS: Rachel Dunn; GA: Tamsin Greenway; WA: Jess Garland; C: Jo Binns; WD: Clare Elsley; GD: Billy Bowers; GK: Geva Mentor.

Subs: Second quarter: Pamela Cookey for Dunn at GS; third quarter: Cookey to GA; Dunn to GS; Greenway to WA; Stacey Francis of Mentor at GK; Bianca Modeste for Elsley at WD; Elsley for Binns at C; fourth quarter: Asha Tett for Cookey at GA.

Starting seven:

Leeds Met Carnegie: GS: Vicky Phillips; GA: Amanda Evans; WA: Natasha Hampshire; C: Deborah Percy; WD: Kirsty Allan; GD: Rachael Jarmin; GK: Cat Parmiter.

Quarter scores: (Bath first): 19-3; 16-7; 23-4; 13-7

Thanks to Matchtight for this match report

TeamBath vs Celtic Dragons, 24th February 2006

TeamBath remain on top of the figleaves.com Netball Superleague, after a 54-15 win away to Celtic Dragons. The competition will now break for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. The Dragons who fielded many of the Welsh side which will compete in Melbourne during March, were unable to cope with the pace and relentless pressure of TeamBath, and the league leaders were rarely troubled as they romped to victory.

TeamBath Vs Team Northumbria, 11th February 2006

Team Bath coach Jan Crabtree was adamant that TeamBath's 67-34 winning score over Team Northumbria in this weekend's figleaves.com superleague home fixture was not a true reflection of the match - although the win keeps the University of Bath side at the top of the table.

"I truly don't believe that the margin was a true reflection of the match and the way it went", said Crabtree. "They played really well throughout".

Crabtree made changes to her normal starting seven, playing Asha Tett at goal-attack and Bianca Modeste at wing-defence.

"All the players in the squad got on court yesterday. I wanted to make sure that they all had some time in there", said Crabtree whose only other moves during the match were to bring on Pamela Cookey at goal-attack at half-time, Sonja Crowe for Jo Binns at centre and Clare Elsley for Modeste.

Team Northumbria started brightly and held the home side to 9-9 in the early stages of the match. Team Bath, though, went on to win that quarter 14-9, were 30-18 up by half-time and then produced a stunning third quarter which they won by 20-7.

"I was particularly pleased with our defence", added Crabtree. "We won lots of turn-over balls and we'd been working on that in training".

TeamBath now concentrate on their next fixture - away to Celtic Dragons on Friday 24 February - before the league is suspended for two months to allow for the Commonwealth Games in March.

Thanks to Matchtight for this press release.

Saturday 4th February 2006

TeamBath are still at the top of the figleaves.com netball superleague. They bounced back from their defeat to arch-rivals Loughborough, to record a 55-31 away win against Bedford Mavericks.

"The whole team played very well today, said a pleased Jan Crabtree, the Team Bath coach, after the match. Defensively we were superb. We concentrated throughout the match and we put into practise the things we had been doing in training".

Geva Mentor, the Teambath goalkeeper had a particularly good game turning over a number of balls in defence. TeamBath were 15-7 up after the first quarter and extended their lead to 30-15 by half-time. In the third quarter, though, Mavericks launched a counter-attack and scored nine goals for no reply in their best spell of the match.

Rachel (Dunn) and Pamela (Cookey) were both excellent in the shooting circle and it was a great team performance", said Crabtree whose side took a little while in the third-quarter to react to a Bedford reshuffle before ploughing ahead to win.

TeamBath Starting Seven:
GS: Rachel Dunn; GA: Pamela Cookey WA: Tamsin Greenway C: Sonja Crowe WD: Clare Elsley; GD: Billy Bowers; GK: Geva Mentor

Quarter scores (TeamBath first): 15-7, 15-8, 11-11, 14-5

Saturday 28th January 2006

TeamBath vs Loughborough Lightning

TeamBath lost away to Loughborough 51-43.

Friday 6th January, 2006

TeamBath increase their lead at the top of netballís inaugural figleaves.com Superleague to three points. The TeamBath side maintained their 100 per cent record with an emphatic 68-31 win over Northern Thunder at the University of Bath at the weekend - a game that marked the halfway point of the league phase of the Superleague. A competitive match, but TeamBath stormed ahead from the start.

"The first quarter of the game was our best where we built our cushion. TeamBath vs Northern Thunder is historically not the most attractive for spectators as Thunder play an aggressive game that interrupts the timing and flow of our play. Our unforced error rate was higher than normal in this match, however it was a good team performance where we all dug in. This was a convincing win in comparison to past clashes in the last couple of years e.g supercup 2004 final where we beat Northern Thunder to win the competition and in last years supercup (2005) epic match which went to extra time twice. We set ourselves high standards so anything less than perfect we sometimes see as disappointing, but we must congratulate ourselves - beating a team by 37 goals is a massive achievement. We realise that a step up in performance will be needed to beat Loughborough, our next opponents. We are very proud to be at the top of the table and this gives us confidence for our next fixture."

Friday 16th December, 2005

The two teams went into the game at Uxbridge as the only two unbeaten sides in the Figleaves.com Superleague – with TeamBath top of the table and Brunel in second.

TeamBath have now opened up a two-point lead at the top of the table by handing out a 38-57 defeat to fellow title chasers Brunel Hurricanes.

TeamBath line up v Brunel: GS: Rachel Dunn, GA: Pamela Cookey, WA: Tamsin Greenway, C: Sonya Crowe, WD: Clare Elsley, GD: Billy Bowers, GK: Geva Mentor. Replacements at half–time: Jo Binns to C, Jess Garland to WA, Tamsin Greenway to GA.

Quarter scores: (TeamBath second) 9–11, 13–13, 8–17, 8–16

Friday 11th November, 2005

TeamBath's international combination was just too strong for visitors Celtic Dragons. TeamBath maintain their undefeated record in this year's competition.
Starting sevens:

TeamBath:
GS: Rachel Dunn, GA: Pamela Cookey, WA: Tamsin Greenway, C: Sonya Crowe, WD: Clare Elsley, GD: Billy Bowers (capt), GK: Geva Mentor.

Changes: third quarter – Cookey to GS, Asha Tett to GA, Jo Binns to C, Bianca Modeste to GD; fourth quarter – Dunn to GS, Jess Garland to WA.

Celtic Dragons:
GS: Kate Edwards, GA: Rhiannon Ace, WA: Amanda Trounce, C: Karen Roberts, WD: Emma Bliss, GD: Sara Hale (capt), GK: Lynda James.

Changes: second quarter: Jamilla Abbott to GS; third quarter: Sam Lyons to GK, Suzy Drane to C, Sian Carrington to WD; fourth quarter – Kate Edwards to GS.

Quarter scores: TeamBath first: 20:4, 19–3, 14–3, 14–6
Umpires: Judith Grove, Dickon Adams.

Shooting stats
TeamBath: Pamela Cookey – 30 from 38 (79 per cent); Rachel Dunn – 28 from 38 (74 per cent); Asha Tett 9 from 13 (69 per cent).
Celtic Dragons: Kate Edwards – 7 from 15 (46 per cent); Rhiannon Ace – 7 from 15 (46 per cent); Jamilla Abbott – 2 from 8 (25 per cent).

In the Youth Superleague match preceding the senior game, TeamBath ran–out 55–33 winners over Celtic Dragons youth team.

Saturday 5th November, 2005

Team Northumbria found TeamBath's England shooting combination of Pamela Cookey and Rachel Dunn too hot too handle and were defeated 24-65 in front of their home crowd at Gateshead Leisure Centre.

Saturday 29th October, 2005

Playing at home TeamBath took the honours 50-27 against Mavericks in this hotly anticipated clash between two of the pre-season favourites for the title. Both teams named five full England internationals in their line ups.

Saturday 22nd October, 2005

TeamBath were hosts to fierce rivals Loughborough Lightening and in front of a strong crowd won the tightly contested match 47 – 44. TEAMBATH got off to a shaky start, trailing 1 – 10 with 6 minutes, although they managed to fight their way back into the game they were still 22 – 29 down at half time. Loughborough piled on the pressure with slick passing by the England centre court combination of Olivia Murphy and Karen Atkinson. However some great turnovers in defence by TeamBath Captain Billy Bowers and Geva Mentor helped the home side back on track, to clinch the victory.

Line Ups
Team Bath:
GS: Rachel Dunn, GA: Pamela Cookey; WA: Tamsin Greenway; C: Sonya Crowe; WD: Clare Elsey; GD: Billy Bowers; GK: Geva Mentor
Substitutes: Second Quarter: Elsey to C, Modeste to WD. Final Quarter: Asha Tett for Pamela Cookey at GA, Jess Garland for Clare Lesley at C.
Loughborough Lightening:
GS: Alex Astle, GA: Ama Agbeze; WA: Karen Atkinson; C: Olivia Murphy; WD: Jade Clarke, GD: Jo Munnion; GK: Hannah Reid
Substitutes: Third Quarter: Laura Brown GD, Sarah Penny GK. Final Quarter: Jo Munnion GD, Lisa Stephenson GA.

Quarter Scores:
TEAMBATH score first: 9-16, 13-12, 16-8, 9-8
Shooting Stats – TEAMBATH
Rachel Dunn – 78% : 1st Quarter 8/10, 2nd Quarter 9/12, 3rd Quarter 11/12, 4th Quarter 7/11 : Total 35/45
Pamela Cookey – 61% : 1st Quarter 1/3, 2nd Quarter 4/7, 3rd Quarter 5/7, 4th Quarter 1/1 : Total 11/18
Asha Tett – 100% : 4th Quarter 1/1 : Total 1/1
Player of the Match:
TEAMBATH: Tamsin Greenway