Dragons are no walk-over for Lightning
LOUGHBOROUGH Lightning were disappointed with a scrappy 27-37 win over Celtic Dragons last night.
The Welsh side, who have only won one Superleague game this season, played their best netball yet to beat the second squad on the league ladder.
Dragons started slowly, adjusting to a new combination and losing the first quarter 3-10.
But by sticking to a strong defensive game plan they managed to disrupt Loughborough’s attack, slowing them down through their mid-court with slick teamwork.
In the second quarter Lightning built on their lead and went into half time ahead by ten goals, 10-20.
The second half of the game was a tight encounter with the home side rattling a Loughborough outfit that beat them by a massive 45 goals in the first round this season. At three quarter time the score was 19-31.
It was not Loughborough’s night; their usual stampede over their opposition was non-existent and Celtic won the final quarter by two goals.
Shooters Jo Harten and Becky James were out-played by Celtic defenders Sara Hale and Lindsay Keable and their usual free-flowing attack down court was halted by strong full court defence by the Celtic Dragons that did not yield all game and forced Loughborough to make several errors.
The full time score was 27-37 with player of the match awarded to Celtic Dragons’ captain Sara Hale who shut down a formidable England attack.
Hale said: “It was a great improvement from our second half and brilliant teamwork. It was great to see Celtic players play with spirit.
“We will now look to back up our performance and move into the middle of The Co-operative Netball Superleague table.”
Disappointed captain and coach Olivia Murphy said: “We restricted Dragons to 27 goals, but 37 goals for us isn’t good enough and our completion rate was down by 30 per cent.
“The game was scrappy and not a good performance following our Christmas break. We have another big game on Sunday against Northern Thunder so we will be looking to improve.”
Celtic Dragons
Chrissy Munroe GS, Cara Moseley GA, Sarah Leach WA, Stephanie Essex C, Stephanie Williams WD, Sara Hale GD, Lindsay Keable GK.
Loughborough Lightning
Hannah Reid GS, Emma Bliss GA, Jade Clarke WA, Olivia Murphy C, Natasha Hampshire WD, Katie Rose GD, Jo Harten GK
Q1: 3-10
Q2: 10-20
Q3: 19-31
Q4: 27-37
