Loughborough Lightning send Thunder crashing to first defeat
VITALITY NETBALL SUPERLEAGUE
MANCHESTER THUNDER 60 LOUGHBOROUGH LIGHTNING 65 LOUGHBOROUGH Lightning secured their third win of the season on Saturday night, knocking Manchester Thunder from the top spot in doing so with a 65-60 victory.
Coming off the back of a tough loss at home last weekend to Team Bath, Lightning had all to play for and a lot to prove going into a match against a Thunder side unbeaten this season.
Eager not to let mistakes get the better of them this time, a solid start for Lightning gave them the confidence needed to match Thunder goal for goal for much of the opening quarter which ended level at 16-16.
The second period saw Lightning continue to ook for every chance possible to steal the ball. With the notorious ‘Thunder drum’ ramping up its presence it was down to captain Nat Panagarry to match the noise providing words of encouragement throughout the court as her team continued to keep their composure and press on into half-time, with Manchester holding a 34-32 lead.
The team returned for the second half with no changes once again and famous for their 3rd quarter break through’s the crowd were soon on the edge of their seats as Lightning quickly took the lead for the first time.
With Joseph and Shaw sending smooth looped balls into Cholhok who was supported by Clark’s ability to sink a ball from the edge of the circle, the score line stayed in Lightning’s favour for much of the quarter.
Meanwhile at the opposite end, Thunder increased their physicality in a bid to fend off Lightning defence. Ignoring the rough and tumble, Keenan and Oyesola covered off Thunder’s attacking circle forcing balls wide and stopping play at every opportunity and Lightning led 50-47.
Just three goals ahead the game was far from secure and Lightning had to muster all their reserve energy to press on and steal the victory from the home side.
Lightning opened up the scoring. Thunder retaliated quickly, closing the gap to just a single point with seven minutes to go before calling a stop to play to make changes to their shooters in a last-ditch attempt to salvage the game. Ignoring the fresh legs and changes to play, Lightning seized the opportunity to push on and left a floundering Thunder to adjust, widening the gap to five points to claim a fantastic 65-60 win.
Returning to her old stomping ground, this time as Head Coach for the opposition, Lightning’s Sara Bayman’s said her team should be proud of their performance.
“It’s been a tough week, it’s always the case after a loss. We’ve worked hard gone back to basics and gotten it clear in our minds what we want to achieve in both attack and defence. We’ve done a lot on just believing how good we are and that we can match up to some of the stronger sides.
“We’re a very good team and we just need to consistently show it. Hopefully we did show that and we probably sent some shockwaves through the league at the same time.”