T&T senior national women’s team goal-shooter, Kalifa Mc Collin and her benecos Mavericks got back to winning ways in the England Vitality Netball Super League when they dumped Team Bath 57-41 in the Battle of the Box, London on Sunday
From the first quarter, Mavericks were in control and stormed into a 13-7 lead which they extended to 32-18 at the half-time interval with a dominant 19-11 quarter scoring.
The third period saw Team Bath put up more of a fight as they were only outscored by Mavericks by two goals, 12-14, but the lead was still a huge one at 16 goals, 46-30 going into the final period.
With the result certain, Mavericks and Team Bath traded 11-goals to the final whistle.
With the win, Mavericks improved their record to 7-2 and 21 points, nine adrift of unbeaten Wasps, which has played a match more, while Loughborough Lightning (6-3) and Manchester Thunder (6-2) are next with 18 points each, followed by Team Bath (5-3) for 15 points in the race for a top four semifinal spot.
The trio of Surrey Storm (2-6), Severn Stars (2-7) and the former team of Mc Collin, Celtic Dragons (2-5) are all level on six points apiece while the pair of Team Northumbria (1-8) and UWS Sirens (1-6) are bottom of the ten-team table.
Last year, Mc Collin was on fire for the Celtic Dragons and ended the season as the league’s sixth best scorer with 526 goals from 567 attempts at a league best 92.8 shooting percentage. However, at Mavericks she has had to play second fiddle to main scorer Karyn Bailey, who has netted 372 goals from 413 attempts, while the reigning T&T Netball Association “Player of the Year” has tallied 116 goals from 138 attempts in her new role.
Up next for Mavericks is a clash against Surrey Storm on Saturday, another easy encounter versus Severn Stars on May 12 and a key match-up with Wasps on May 18.
