KATE CARPENTER takes her triumphant Team Northumbria netball team to Yorkshire Jets tomorrow convinced that a team in transition can only get better.

The jubilant Kiwi masterminded a first win of the season on Saturday as Celtic Dragons were beaten 62-52 in front of a boisterous Sport Central crowd in Newcastle.

And Northumbria University's ground-breaking partnership with the Northern Ireland national team is already being hailed as an instant success after seven players crossed the Irish Sea at the weekend to play a part in the victory.

Carpenter said: “We had a really wonderful start that laid the foundations for a fantastic win. There were times in the match where the Dragons came back at us and at one point they moved to with four or five of us.

“But at that point the girls re-focused and extended the lead. They showed great determination – it could have gone either way midway through the final quarter.”

Carpenter is making the most of having five days with her new-look squad, with Team Northumbria’s Belfast-based contingent arriving on Tyneside last Friday.

The squad will go their separate ways on Tuesday morning – after tomorrow's winnable clash at the Jets – and the club’s new playcaller added: “It’s perfect timing.

“Right now two games in three days is perfect for us. We need to spend more time together, we’ve got a fully fit squad with competition for places and we have the momentum gained from a first win.”

Carpenter looks set to recall sipper Darcie Worsdale and fellow Kiwi Emma Woodings for the Jets clash, with Aussie import Georgia Beaton also set for a more prominent role.