Northumbria Defeated On Disappointing Final Day

TeAroha Keenan admitted she was desperately disappointed that Team Northumbria failed to finish their Netball Superleague season on a high.

And following a 52-47 defeat to bottom club Celtic Dragons, the Kiwi playcaller conceded she would need time to reflect on a difficult campaign.

TN travelled to Wales bidding to wrap up their top flight campaign with a fourth victory of the season - and a first away from home.

But the Dragons had other ideas and Keenan said: “We could have finished off the season really well.

“Instead I’ve been left disappointed and I’ll need time to get over this result before I can reflect on the season as a whole.

“It was a physical game on both sides. But I didn’t think our players coped with the Dragons’ physical threat as well as they coped with ours.

“We just didn’t handle it.

“We came back in the third quarter to pay our best netball of the match but simply couldn’t sustain that level.

“One of our biggest weaknesses this season is that we haven’t made the most of the possession that we’ve had in defence.

“That was the most disappointing aspect of the Dragons match. Once again we had a lot of ball but didn’t use it effectively.”

Dragons opened up a 12-9 lead after the first quarter and extended their lead to five goals at half time.

But TN finally clicked into gear after the break and found themselves on level terms heading into the fourth period.

A Georgia Rowe goal saw the visitors take a 37-36 lead with the first goal of the final quarter but Dragons rallied.

And the hosts claimed only their second win of the season - sparking wild celebrations in front of the partisan home crowd.

“It was another missed opportunity,” added Keenan. “It was a game we could have won.”