‘Boro up to fourth as they defeat Sharks
LOUGHBOROUGH Lightning made it three wins in a row with victory over Darlington Mowden Park Sharks.
Despite some brilliant early running from Georgia Bradley, first-half chances were few and far between.
The first half was characterised by long periods of Sharks possession; however they came up against a very strong and resilient Lightning defensive unit, led by Rebecca Noon, Natasha Jones and Catherine O’Donnell.
The first score of a cagey opening came through a Sharks penalty, struck between the posts confidently by Katy Daly-McLean to make the score 0-3 at the break.
It took Lightning just five minutes of the second half to produce their opening score, as Carys Williams produced a great driving run to burst through a couple of defensive efforts after a brilliant run and offload down from Bethan Zeidler.
DMP responded brilliantly though scoring a try themselves just five minutes later by Rianna Manson. The conversion was missed leaving the score at 8-7.
Loughborough went ahead for a second time on 67 minutes as Williams scored her second of the game. Jones converted brilliantly for 14-8.
Lightning extended their lead to 21-8 as Lizzie Adams profited from a great turnover tackle from Hannah Phillip down the Lightning right on 77 minutes.
Again DMP replied through Claudia Macdonald’s try however it proved too little too late with Lightning wrapping up a much needed 21-15 win.