Pair of quick-fire wins puts Lightning on top of Superleague table
SIDE EMERGES VICTORIOUS FROM TWO GAMES ON DAYS
LOUGHBOROUGH Lightning return to Loughborough University on a high this week, after a pair of fine performances left them sitting pretty at the top of the Vitality Netball Superleague table.
Making the trip to Studio 001, in Wakefield, to face new side Leeds Rhinos and Severn Stars in back-toback clashes, head coach Sara Bayman’s side were full of confidence after securing two wins on the trot in the opening rounds of the 2021 season.
Claiming the highest points scored in any match so far this season, with a 70-41 win over Leeds Rhinos on Sunday night, the squad were left with little time to recover before it was time to go again.
Changing the line-up for Monday night’s clash with Severn Stars, Bayman gave Ella Clark her first start of the season in the goal shooter spot with young defender and Loughborough University student Jas Odeogberin stepping out at goal defence.
With no sign of tired legs Lightning quickly found their feet and applied the pressure to Stars, a depleted side after losing captain Liana Leota to injury the previous day.
They were made to work hard, but Lightning came out 58-30 victors, to the delight of Bayman, who said: “We never underestimated Stars. We knew they were going to make us work for it.
“We weren’t happy with the first half, so we said to each other that we really needed to come out in the second half and grind it.
“I think there’s still work to do, there’s still connections to build but it’s a good starting block for us, we’re only five games in but I still want to build.”
CONSECUTIVE
Lightning claimed the highest points scored in any match so far this season, with a 70-41 win over Leeds Rhinos
Covering both the goal shooter and goal attack positions across the 48-minute match, dual athlete Ella Clark turned in a Player of the Match performance. She said: “We do so many combinations in training so they’re not new to us, but it’s just trying to start those connections off well each game no matter what they are. “Looking ahead to the rest of the season, we’re definitely where we want to be, but we’re still building and it’s still early on in the season. We definitely have more to give.”
Bayman spoke of the need to provide consistently good performances.
“There’s a lot we’re not satisfied about today,” she said. “I think it was good that the girls got through it and they battled their way through it. I think a lot of teams will look at that game and say ‘oh this is what we can do’ but to be disappointed with a 28-goal win is a pretty good place to be at.
“We made a couple of changes today and I think had they been against another side they would have been effective. Credit to the girls that came into the changes that we made, they did a really good job, Sam May came in and made an impact, as did Lauren Nicholls.
“It was really about building. Games like that you’ve got to work hard in the first half to have the rewards in the second half and they were able to come in and reap what the starting seven sowed.”
Loughborough Lightning take a break next weekend before returning to face Surrey Storm on Saturday, March 13, at 2pm.
You can follow the action live on Sky Sports YouTube.
SEVEN POTENTIAL
FOR LOAN SPELL OR CHANGE OF CLUB
LEICESTER Tigers now have seven players out on loan this season, while four more have been released early from their contracts since the turn of the year.
Jordan Olowofela (Western Force) and Jonny Law (Ampthill) have temporarily teamed up with new clubs following on from Sam Lewis linking up with Coventry while Jordan Coghlan, Joe Browning, Osman Dimen and Emeka Ilione are all with Nottingham.
Tigers have also seen players permanently leave the club in recent months including Jordan Taufua, Facundo Gigena, Blake Enever and Shalva Mamumkashvili.
But who else in the senior squad could be set for a loan spell before the end of the season to gain precious game time?
SAM ASPLAND-ROBINSON Winger
The 24-year-old has suffered plenty of misfortune in his rugby career. He missed a year while with Harlequins after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury before joining Tigers in 2018.
Aspland-Robinson made 12 appearances in his first season at the Mattioli Woods Welford Road. But a leg break in his second campaign, during the win over Pau, ruled him out for the 2019/20 season and heavy traffic in the wide channels suggest a return to action is unlikely any time soon.
THOM SMITH
Back row
Became Tigers’ youngest-ever captain in a league game when he skippered the side against Gloucester last August.
The 6ft 3in back rower, aged 21, already has 10 senior appearances under his belt and was recently mentioned as an option while Jasper Wiese and Hanro Liebenberg are both suspended, but missed the cut against Bristol Bears. Likely be to kept in the mix.
GEORGE WORTH Centre/fullback
The most experienced player on this list in terms of Leicester Tigers appearances, clocking up 63 since making his debut back in May 2016.
Despite his versatility to play in a number of positions, he is yet to play for Tigers this season. Has been linked with a move to Wasps.
JAKE KERR Hooker
Tigers are well stocked when it comes to hooker as Tom Youngs and Julian Montoya dog it out for the number two shirt with Charlie Clare also being involved in four of the club’s eight Premiership squads so far.
This leaves question marks against the remaining two. Scotsman Kerr is just 24 years of age and hasn’t featured in a league match since September 2020.
However, Tigers are likely to keep him within their ranks given Shalva Mamumkashvili was recently released early from his contract.
TOM HARDWICK Fly-half/centre
The versatile back seems well out of favour at Tigers and hasn’t been involved in a matchday squad yet this season. The 21-year-old has been linked with a move to Bristol Bears. You feel only a move away will kickstart his career.
Tigers and the player himself might prefer a permanent move, though.
HARRY POTTER Wnger
The Australian has not featured since the defeat to London Irish in round two of the Gallagher Premiership as the likes of Kobus van Wyk, Nemani Nadolo and Kini Murimurivalu are preferred as well as the deployment of Guy Porter and Matias Moroni in the wide channels, rather than at centre.
Potter showed some promising signs in the concluding rounds of the 2019/20 season, scoring two tries in six games, but his route back to the Tigers first team is a congested one.
DAVID WILLIAMS Winger
Another winger who, like Potter, is down the pecking order. Having featured four times last season following the restart, the 25-year-old hasn’t been involved in any of Tigers’ 13 games this term.
LEICESTER City boss Brendan Rodgers has admitted he may have to get “creative” to put together a side that could be missing eight senior players at Burnley.
City travel to Turf Moor tonight amid their worst injury crisis of a season heavily affected by player unavailability.
And it could force Rodgers’ hand as he tries to pick a side that can take on the Clarets and keep up City’s hunt for a top-four spot.
The manager said: “It will be no different to a lot of the season, especially the start of the season, when we looked at personnel to see what system suited.
“Our principles will always be the same in terms of how we want to play, and then we look for a system that will exploit and expose the players’ talents of those that are available.
“We’ll have to find a different way. You’re missing millions and millions of pounds worth of quality. Naturally that affects the quality of your output.
“We’ve had it in spells in the season. My job and the coaches’ job is to find the solution, however we do that, that’s the challenge. We know the possibilities to go in and win every game, so we’ll have to be creative in how we do that.”
In that case, a return to a back three is possible. It was a formation that City used to some effect in the autumn, when they were first hit by a glut of injuries.
Although Wesley Fofana may make a comeback at Burnley, if he is held back for the trip to Brighton,
Rodgers still has enough players to select a back three, which would be formed of Daniel Amartey, Caglar Soyuncu and Christian Fuchs. The latter has played just 15 minutes in the club’s most recent 19 games, last starting in a 2-0 defeat to Everton in December.
Then, Timothy Castagne and Ricardo Pereira could operate as wing-backs, with Luke Thomas, substituted at half-time during the loss to Arsenal because he was at risk of picking up a red card, able to have a game off.
Wilfred Ndidi and Youri Tielemans could then form the midfield two, albeit Rodgers may wish to give Tielemans a rest, given the inordinate number of minutes he has played, and his visible tiredness during the defeat to the Gunners.
In that case, City may wish to bring in Hamza Choudhury or Papy Mendy, or maybe even Sidnei Tavares for a Premier League debut.
Then, City would have two ways of approaching the front three.
They could either play Marc Albrighton and Cengiz Under as wide forwards, with Jamie Vardy leading the line, or if they feel the wing-backs are providing enough width, they could go for a narrower formation, perhaps with Under and Kelechi Iheanacho tucked inside behind the number nine.
Rodgers may also feel Vardy needs a break after an unusually busy run of games for the striker, who has not been afforded rests in midweek matches lately as he was in the first half of the season.
There is still a possibility that a back-four system remains, which would see Castagne, Amartey, Soyuncu, and Ricardo play in defence, likely Ndidi and Tielemans in midfield, with Albrighton and Under wide, and Iheanacho again taking the number 10 role behind Vardy.
LEICESTER City believe they have shown Sidnei Tavares he is in the best place for his development as the club bid to tie down the Portuguese midfielder.
Tavares is the latest player off the City production line, making his senior debut in last week’s Europa League tie against Slavia Prague, having impressed manager Brendan
Rodgers in pre-season games and in training. But he is out of contract in the summer and has been linked to a handful of clubs, including Benfica and Sporting Lisbon in Portugal. Tavares was born in the country and represents their Under-19s, but his family moved to England when he was a baby, and he has been in City’s academy from a young age.
The club are currently in talks with Tavares and believe they have proven to the 19-year-old that his career is best-served at the King Power Stadium.
“He’s obviously a talented boy,” manager Brendan Rodgrs said. “Any player from a football perspective will see this as a great environment to have that opportunity to play. It (contract talks) is something that’s outside of myself. There are discussions going on between Jon (Rudkin, director of football) and his representatives and family.
“He enjoys being here. You can see how much I think of him and having him around the squad at this time and sticking him into an important game.
“That’s all you can do. If there are other things they’re looking for, whether it’s finance or something else, that’s always up for negotiation. But from a football perspective, he’s in a really good place here.”
Rodgers was preparing to hand the teenager his Premier League debut on Sunday but Jonny Evans’ injury scuppered the plans.
However, with potentially eight senior players out for the trip to Burnley, and with Youri Tielemans in need of a rest, Tavares could get a chance over the next couple of games.
Rodgers said: “He has great qualities, he’s 6ft 2in, has a wonderful view of the game, he covers the ground well, he can see a pass, he has a nice touch.
“He needs to get stronger, he needs to have a greater physicality to compete, but he has potential.
“He came on (against Slavia) and he showed he has confidence. He has to continue working very hard in order to be in this squad. He has big potential for me.
“I’ve always believed in young players, and sometimes you never know until you put them in.
“The Premier League is a difficult league to put too many in, and even though we have a lot of young players, I’ve seen them grow and develop.
“I watch them every day in training, so I see their personalities and see if they’re ready to go in.
“We’ll see if they’re required and if they go in, they’ll do their very best.”
LEICESTER City may be in the rough but there are plenty of holes to come before they reach the clubhouse, says manager Brendan Rodgers.
In their pursuit of a top-four spot, City are well-placed on the leaderboard but all of a sudden find themselves with a rather empty golf bag compared to their rivals as they look to navigate sand traps like the one coming into view at Burnley tonight.
Still, Rodgers says too much of the course remains to start drawing conclusions on where City might lie coming up to the 18th green.
“There’s still a long way to go,” he said as he prepares to take his injury-hit side to Turf Moor. “It’s like the golfer, he doesn’t just play 12 holes and sign his card.
“You sign your card when you pick your ball out of the 18th hole. That’s when you finish. For us, there’s such a long way to go.
“We would’ve loved to have had all these players. I looked at Man United versus Chelsea on Sunday, I saw the squads and you look at the players like Tammy Abraham who can’t even get on the bench.
“That’s the depth. So for us, we can’t do anything about that, there’s no change, we’re only in the top four if we finish there at the end of the season.
“We will fight, do our best, and focus on our process to get there. We stay neutral, stay calm, stay focused and not try to forecast what’s going to happen over the next three months. Let’s see what happens.”
Going into Wednesday’s game, City sit third, five points ahead of fifth-placed Chelsea.
And while they are one point shy of their tally from this point last season, Rodgers believes it’s been a better achievement from his side to date.
“We’ve had injuries but we’ve also had European football to contend with, and you’ve seen with some teams that can prove difficult,” he said.
“The players have been brilliant to this point. But we haven’t done anything yet. My attitude has always been that we’re not in the top four until we see where we’re at at the last game of the season. There’s nothing to lose there because we haven’t got anything yet.
“You have to get to the end of the season and see where you finish in May and then look at it from there.
“Until this point, the players have done really well. There are 12 games to go, it’s a process now over these next few months and it’s one we will relish.”