Table toppers and reigning champions TeamBath were made to battle all the way before eventually edging past Mavericks 53-45 in the Netball Superleague Grand Final at Guildford Spectrum Centre.
TeamBath, who came into the match with a perfect 15 wins from 15 games, were forced to dig deep as Mavericks harried and hassled them into errors from the first whistle.
Mavericks GK Janet Coulburne put in another storming performance, unsettling TeamBath and England GS Rachel Dunn from the first whistle, and taking numerous interceptions to keep the pressure on the champions.
Pamela Cookey, Dunn's shooting partner, was uncharacteristically subdued early on, thanks to some tight marking by Mavericks and England captain Amanda Newton, and was restricted to only five shots in the first period.
Young Mavericks GS Jo Harten settled the nerves with the first goal of the game, and her side soon moved out to lead 5-1 and 7-4 early on.
However, the champions applied pressure of their own, and worked their way back into the game, trailing only 12-10 at the end of the first period.
Bath started the second quarter with an interception, but were forced into an immediate error of their own, and this set the tone for a quarter of end to end action which had the capacity crowd on the edge of its seats.
With key match ups all over the court, the audience was treated to netball of the very highest quality. Sara Bayman and Deb Jones typified the skill and excitement of the entire match with an enthralling battle in centre court, while Karen Atkinson and Natalie Seaton battled for every ball throughout the game with speed and skill. The gap closed to a single goal, 22-21 in Mavericks' favour at the half-time interval.
TeamBath coach Jan Crabtree replaced Sara Bayman with Jo Binns at C for the start of the second half, and her vision enabled the release of GA Cookey into space in the TeamBath attacking third, which set the scoreboard turning in the champions' favour.
Cookey responded with 7/8 for the quarter, and with player of the match GK Geva Mentor making a number of key turnovers to deny Mavericks shooting opportunities, the champions refused to be overawed.
Brownfield scored 9/9 for the quarter so the lead was only one goal 36-35 in favour of TeamBath with 15 minutes to play.
Mavericks' GA Brownfield levelled the scores immediately after the restart, but her side could not capitalise on their next possession, with Mentor once again turning over the ball in the Mavericks' circle.
The period was nip and tuck, with neither team able to dominate, until the final four minutes of the period.
After an injury time out, with the scores level at 45-45, GS Rachel Dunn converted to set the scoreboard moving in TeamBath's favour.
With the capacity crowd roaring them on, TeamBath edged ahead, scoring seven goals to put the result out of reach, and take the title for the second successive season.
Mavericks coach Maggie Jackson was philosophical in defeat: "It was a great game, and all credit to TeamBath, because they came out and won the match in the final minutes.
"I was really pleased with the way Mavericks came out and never stopped at what we asked of them."
Meanwhile, TeamBath coach Jan Crabtree was thrilled with her team's efforts. She said: "Massive respect to Mavericks for the way they took us on today.
"I knew our opportunity would come, and it was then up to the team to take their chance, which they did with such control. It has been a superb season, and they should all be very proud of their achievements."
Starting line ups
TeamBath: GS Rachel Dunn, GA Pamela Cookey, WA Tamsin Greenway, C Sara Bayman, WD Natalie Seaton, GD "Billy" Bowers, GK Geva Mentor. Changes/substitutions: 3rd Q: C Jo Binns
Mavericks: GS Jo Harten, GA Louisa Brownfield, WA Karen Atkinson, C Deb Jones, WD Naomi Siddall, GD Amanda Newton, GK Janet Coulburne. No changes.
Shooting statistics
TeamBath: Cookey 22/26, Dunn 31/41
Mavericks: Brownfield 28/34, Harten 15/19
Player of the match
Geva Mentor
Umpires
Bill Alexander and Judith Groves (reserve: Jo Kelly).
