Electric display sees Lightning win again
WHO said Lightning cannot strike twice?
The Sunshine Coast were in disbelief after creating sporting history with their 62-59 victory over West Coast Fever in yesterday’s Super Netball grand final at Perth Arena.
The Lightning have set a mark that is unlikely to be beaten by any expansion club, in any sport – winning two premierships in their first two years of existence.
If Queensland is “beautiful one day, perfect the next”, you can add “centre of the netball universe” after the Lightning claimed the Sunshine State’s fourth-straight national league title.
The Sunshine Coast’s back-to-back heroics in 2017 and 2018 followed the consecutive titles for the Queensland Firebirds in 2015-16.
The Lightning secured their second-straight crown in front of 13,772 spectators – the biggest crowd in the history of the world’s best club competition.
The Sunshine Coast trailed by seven goals late in the second quarter but showed their credentials by reeling in the home side just before halftime and pouncing after the main break.
The Lightning outscored the Fever 22-16 in the third term but had to survive some anxious moments in the fourth quarter.
The scores were level with six minutes left and West Coast hit the front soon after but the Lightning were cool.
“What we’ve managed to achieve is quite unbelievable,’’ captain Geva Mentor said. ‘‘I don’t know if there’s many sporting teams around the world that have managed to do what we’ve done.
‘‘I’m still quite in shock that we’ve managed to do it and go back-to-back and can’t quite comprehend what we’ve managed. This is definitely sweet. My memory is terrible, the other ones (grand final wins with Adelaide in 2010, Melbourne in 2014 and last year with the Lightning) were obviously pretty good but this one is certainly special. To be able to go back-toback with the Lightning is pretty incredible.’’