WASPS NETBALL: FIVE wins in a row has cemented Wasps Netball’s second place position in the Vitality Netball Superleague.
The shooting prowess of veteran Rachel Dunn and young prodigy George Fisher – who racked up 63 goals between them – proved too much for Sirens as Wasps Netball recorded an emphatic 65-41 victory over their Scottish opponents at the Ricoh Arena.
The result strengthens Wasps’ grip on a top four play-off spot in the Netball Superleague with a 12-point cushion with seven games to go.
Wasps Director of Netball Tamsin Greenway praised the impact that Fisher had after coming on at half-time to score 90 per cent of her shots and help the home side extend their lead.
She said: “It’s been tough for George this season. We brought her here to play but unfortunately because of some of the injuries we’ve had to shuffle things around.
“We had a chat with her and she’s been working so hard behind the scenes and I think she’s really stepped up in the past few weeks and I think that was shown out on the court today – she was outstanding.
“I thought the attacking end today really started to get the gist of what we are doing. We’ve been working on how we break down defensive units with different combinations and they’re really starting to click now.”
Wasps raced into a six-point lead with Rachel Dunn proving dominant in the circle with Sirens’ Carla Borrego and Jo Pettit both missing a host of chances early on.
Although it took Sirens nine minutes to register their first points, Borrego and Pettit made amends by scoring four consecutive goals to reduce the deficit to 12-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Wasps extended their lead to ten points in the second quarter, with Bongi Msomi proving instrumental in the middle of the court forcing turnovers and feeding the ball up to Dunn and Natalie Haythonthwaite.
Caroline O’Hanlon’s darting runs off the ball livened up Sirens’ attack after the break, but the introduction of Wasps’ young goal shooting prodigy George Fisher saw Wasps head into the final quarter with a 16 point lead.
Player coach Tamsin Greenway entered into the fray in the final quarter at wing attack to help Wasps see out the game, as unstoppable duo Rachel Dunn and George Fisher racked up 22 goals between them in the final quarter to finish the game 65-41 .
Wasps Netball make the short trip up the M69 to Loughborough Lightning for their next match on 29 April, before hosting Severn Stars at the Ricoh Arena on 1 May (6pm centre pass).
Tickets for Wasps Netball vs Severn Stars on May 1 start from £10 for adults while under-10s go free, and can be purchased from www.waspsnetball.co.uk/tickets.
