Glasgow Wildcats: Scotland's Superleague Team
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Glasgow Wildcats vs Hertfordshire Mavericks
16/01/10
Clare Carswell
The Glasgow Wildcats demonstrated grit and determination as they dug their claws in and held the mighty Mavericks to a draw in the final quarter of a 22-47 defeat.
Within minutes, the Wildcats took the first point of the match and immediately prevented a score at the other end of the court, through some great defending from goal keeper, Hayley Mulheron.
For the remainder of the first quarter the Glasgow side struggled while the visitors moved well and commanded the court. Wildcats captain, Lesley MacDonald said: "Being our first game back, it took us a little time to settle especially being the first game at home."
The match became livelier after this with impressive passages of play from both sides. The Maverick's lead began to stretch but the Wildcats successfully limited their visitor's dominance on court and forced them to work hard. "It was a messy game in terms of disrupting the flow." commented Wildcat's head coach Denise Holland.
The Glasgow side suffered in the second and third quarters when poor shooting prevailed. During this period, Lesley MacDonald and Nicola Collins (who alternated between shooter and goal attack) had difficulty converting attempts into goals and scored only 8 out of 21 chances.
Meanwhile the Mavericks scoring abilities were strong throughout, with an average team score of 77.3% compared to the Wildcats 51.1%. Despite being continually pressurised by the relentless efforts of Glasgow's Hayley Mulheron, shooter Vicklyn Joseph, who played the first two quarters, still managed to achieve an 80% scoring average.
In the final quarter, the Scots stifled the Maverick's play considerably through a vigorous team effort. Denise Holland was pleased with the performance: "We turned an experienced defence inside out. By the end of the game we felt like we'd really won something."
June McNeill entered the match for the final quarter and worked well to create space within the D. During her 15mins on court, McNeill accumulated eight attempts and five goals, while MacDonald notched up another five from just seven attempts. McNeill stated "We played the last quarter as a squad. We play quarter by quarter so the fourth was like a fresh page."
The strong performance in the latter stages of the match from the home side caused some discomfort for the visitors. Maverick's head coach Maggie Jackson commented, "We are obviously pleased with the result. We're happy with several things we were working on, however we felt we did that by the third quarter but we didn't maintain it." She added, "Glasgow are a tough one-on-one team and we need to recognise that."
The Wildcats have a couple of weeks off before meeting the Celtic Dragons in Cardiff for a live Sky Sports match on Monday February 1, 7.30pm. "It's certainly one we'll be putting in a good performance for and hopefully getting a win from" said the captain Lesley MacDonald.
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Last Game 30/04/10
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49-37 | 
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Netball Superleague 08/09
| Team | P | Pts. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Surrey Storm | 16 | 28 |
| 2 | Team Bath | 16 | 27 |
| 3 | Northern Thunder | 16 | 26 |
| 4 | Mavericks | 16 | 22 |
| 5 | Leeds Carnegie | 16 | 15 |
| 6 | Celtic Dragons | 16 | 7 |
| 7 | Glasgow Wildcats | 16 | 7 |
| 8 | Loughborough Lightning | 16 | 6 |
| 9 | Team Northumbria | 16 | 6 |
League table last updated: 30/04/10
