Surrey Storm Netball continued their pre-season preparations on Saturday 29 November with a win in the Reenergise Tri-Tournament at Surrey Sports Park. Storm hosted fellow Netball Superleague rivals Team Bath and Hertfordshire Mavericks at the University of Surrey-owned venue in a three-way tournament. The sell-out crowd were relishing the chance to watch Coach Tamsin Greenway’s final squad in action for the first time before their league season starts in the New Year.
Fans were particularly excited to see England captain Pamela Cookey (as pictured above) back on court for her Storm debut following her signing in October. Having just recovered from a ruptured Achilles which saw her side-lined for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, this was her first game on court for several months.
Surrey Storm 29 – Team Bath 27
Surrey opened the tournament against Cookey’s former club Team Bath and it took both sides time to find their feet in the opening quarter. Ruthless attacking from Greenway and England shooter Rachel Dunn kept the goals coming for Storm, but Bath were equally as efficient and the game was tied 9-9 at the first break. Surrey opened the 2nd quarter with five straight goals as Bath struggled to cope against a solid defence, which continued into the 3rd period to hand Storm a 25-17 lead heading into the closing quarter. Bath clawed back Storm’s lead to just two points, but it was the hosts who opened with a 29-27 win to sit top of the table.
Team Bath 28 – Hertfordshire Mavericks 30
Bath returned to court for match two of the afternoon, this time to face Hertfordshire Mavericks. In a repeat of the first fixture, neither side could break the deadline in the opening quarter as both defences put pressure on the attack to force numerous errors, ending the period 8-8. Bath flew out of the blocks after the break, but a number of long range passes between Mavericks centre Sophia Candappa and England shooter Kadeen Corbin allowed Hertfordshire to take a four goal lead, which was extended to five in the 3rd quarter. Bath again attempted a last minute comeback, but Mavericks held off to take a 30-28 victory.
Surrey Storm 33 – Hertfordshire Mavericks 29
Match three saw Netball London Live rivals Storm and Mavericks go head-to-head, knowing that the winners would lift the Tri-Tournament trophy. Stand-out performer Amy Flanagan opened the game in fine form at wing defence, intercepting a number of passes to hand Storm the edge on the whistle as the home side led by a single goal, 10-9. The story was the same in the 2nd quarter, as Flanagan again completed a vital interception in the final minute of the half to allow Dunn to extend their lead to two goals at 17-15. Coach Greenway continued her squad rotation by making several changes at the break and Mavericks took advantage, levelling the game at 22-22 heading into the final and decisive period of the Tournament. Cookey opened with four straight goals as Surrey outperformed their opponents with a near flawless quarter of netball in both attack and defence, to give the hosts a 33-29 win, making them Reenergise Tri-Tournament champions.