WORCESTER Saracens suffered a 37-31 defeat when they took on Newcastle Town in a West Midlands Netball League match.

In their encounter earlier in the season, Saracens beat Newcastle by 16 goals and it was a determined Newcastle side that took the court eager to gain revenge for that defeat.

The game started tentatively with both sides probing but not able to gain any initiative.

The first six goals were shared and it was not until the latter stages of the quarter that Newcastle started to gain the ascendancy. They managed to open a four-goal lead at 8-4 playing controlled netball and not allowing Saracens to settle into any kind of rhythm.

In the last seconds of the quarter, Saracens managed to pull two goals back to make the score a more respectable 9-7.

The opening minutes of the second quarter found Newcastle once again piling the pressure on the Saracens centre court defence, allowing them to increase their lead to six goals.

Saracens could not find an answer due to a number of unconverted shooting opportunities allowing Newcastle to pull further away to give them a healthy lead of 10 at half time, 21-11.

Saracens made one substitution resulting in a rearranged defensive formation and switched their attack around.

This resulted in a more de-termined approach from Saracens and they stated to put pressure on the Newcastle defence. Shots started to be converted and Saracens were playing in a much more confident manner.

They managed to score 14 goals in the third quarter, while Newcastle were only able to reply with seven to close the gap to 28-25.

Saracens drew level in the final quarter, which should have been a springboard to victory. But from that point Newcastle managed to get back on top and grind out a deserved victory 37-31 as Saracens' final moments fizzled out like a damp squib.