Tuesday 10 February 2015 08:35, UK
Surrey Storm stayed among the early pace-setters in the Netball Superleague after completing a 56-42 win over Team Bath.
The Guildford-based side were briefly troubled by a Bath rally in the second quarter, but reasserted their control after half-time and now sit in second place following two victories in three days.
In a frenetic opening, Surrey searched for the towering figure of Rachel Dunn, who built up an early lead with some composed shooting.
The hosts were struggling to repel slick interplay from the Storm, with experienced duo Tamsin Greenway and Pamela Cookey finding gaping holes in the Bath defence.
Dunn benefitted from a string of accurate feeds into the area, extending her side’s advantage, and Bath were grateful for reliable Goal Shooter Rosie Allison as they ended the first quarter 9-16 behind.
Surrey continued to pull away in the second quarter and Bath were forced into changes, replacing the overworked Bessie Manu and bringing in Kyra Jones at Centre, while Stacey Francis was moved to Goal Defence.
These switches sparked a determined response and Allison’s looping efforts found the net with regularity, much to the delight of the vocal home support. Surrey’s tight grip on the game was slipping and they headed in at half-time with a 29-22 lead.
Greenway reacted to this worrying spell during the break, moving Amy Flanagan to Wing Defence, while Kat Ainsworth switched to Centre.
Surrey looked to Cookey for inspiration in the third quarter and she began to bother the Bath defence with some swift passing and clever movement.
Dunn remained a steady source of goals for the Storm, with Cookey also weighing in with some precise shots.
Under increasing pressure, Bath were surrendering possession in the mid-court area and managed only seven goals as they trailed 42-29 at the end of the third quarter.
Ainsworth had made a big impact since her arrival, and mixed up her feeds to breach the Bath backline in the closing minutes.
The Somerset team showed their spirit as the impressive Allison cut the deficit to 10, but Cookey and Greenway steered Surrey through the dying stages.
Cookey, the player of the match, believes Surrey have injected some momentum into their season after an opening day defeat by champions Manchester Thunder.
"It's really important to get those wins back-to-back," she told Sky Sports. "We played on Saturday and again today so we didn't really have any time to do any analysis and meet up.
"It's really important for us that we know that even though we are playing a different team, we can still do what we do - and it worked.
"They came out fighting in that second quarter and they really pushed us. Fair play to them, they really wanted it and they pushed us."
Bath team captain Asha Francis took positives out of the match ahead of Friday's home clash with Hertfordshire Mavericks.
She said: “We have some great patches and it’s now about making them last longer and making them stretch out across a whole game."
