Celtic Dragons have stunned table toppers Surrey Storm with a 15 goal win, and in doing so have earned themselves a place in the Superleague’s top tier for phase two of the season.
The Welsh win has sent shockwaves through the league as it knocks defending champions, Manchester Thunder into the ‘Challenger’ league, despite falling on the sword of Manchester by 23 goals earlier in the season.
Dragons started strongly and maintained a good execution of the basics – passing and moving, and each player was firing and on form.
They out-played their opponents in every quarter, and will be delighted with the performance.
The consequence of the win means Dragons will play their next six matches against the league’s top teams – TeamBath, Hertfordshire Mavericks and Surrey Storm, once home, once away, preparing them with solid competitive matches leading into the finals rounds.
Dragons Coach Melissa Hyndman says the team began every quarter strongly, and commended her defensive unit in particular.
“Their patience and control for me was amazing. There was a mixed batch of feeds to Timmy (Cato) but the ones they needed to nail they nailed.”
Hyndman sees a steady and exciting progression since the loss to Thunder four games ago.
“We’ve progressed really nicely. We’ll take this forward and carry on.”
She added “If I could scream with joy I would, I’m just ecstatic. I’m so proud of the whole team – the team on the sideline, the team on the court. I know I only played seven but it was about getting to top four, and that’s what we did.”