The victory was once again grounded on a superb defensive performance by England captain Amanda Newton and former international Janet Coulburne, who effectively silenced the Dragons’ shooting threat from the first period.
Mavericks coach Maggie Jackson used the fixture to test out her combinations ahead of the play offs, starting with England A’s Gemma Wiseman at GS, Holly Nichols at WA and Vicky Sweeting in at WD.
Meanwhile, for Celtic Dragons, the young Shenaide Blucher started at GA, in place of Ffion Roach, who was unavailable for the fixture, alongside Jamilla Abbott.
Despite the changes to the line up, it was Mavericks who settled first, cruising to a 15-3 lead at the end of the first period.
Dragons’s coach Jess Garland brought on Sophie Baxter at WA and moved captain Mayes to C, and their injection of pacy interplay and slightly smaller stature made things uncomfortable for the taller Mavericks defenders.
Blucher started to find the net with more frequency, and with Wiseman’s accuracy wavering, Dragons pushed the home side all the way before losing the quarter 7-9, to trail 10-24 at half time.
More changes for both teams at the start of the second half, but with the towering Mavericks front line of Joanne Harten and Louisa Brownfield now in place, the shorter Dragons defensive unit found things very difficult.
England star Clare Elsley, now at WD for Dragons battled hard against her international colleague Karen Atkinson in one of the evening’s fascinating match ups, but Atkinson used her greater experience and pace to find the circle edge with regularity.
Meanwhile, Dragons’ England U21 shooter Chrissie Munro found things tough against Newton and Coulburne, and the opportunities started to dry up for the Welsh side. Third quarter to Mavericks 18-8.
The final period was a similar story, with the Mavericks’ attacking unit now on song.
In front of a packed crowd, the Hatfield-based team moved the ball with pace and precision, and Brownfield and Harten took full advantage.
Final score 59-23 to the Mavericks, and they now have their sights clearly on a repeat of last year’s grand final, against TeamBath, in the first round of play offs at Bath University on 26 May.
