Match Report
England Netball
England Netball
As the opening round of The FIAT Netball Superleague continued on Saturday evening, Loughborough Lightning welcomed Team Northumbria for a hotly anticipated battle. With many teams seemingly going through a period of transition, both sides came into the encounter looking to stake an early claim for a top four spot. The anticipation had obviously spread around town, as a sell-out crowd filled the arena to witness a remarkable match which saw Lightning dominate the first half and then teeter on the verge of capitulating in the second. Those unfortunate enough to arrive too late and be turned away disappointed will be reeling from missing such an intense encounter.
Loughborough are without key England shooter Jo Harten this season as she tries her luck in the ANZ. Therefore, it was down to Lianne Badmin and Becky James to step in and fill Harten’s quite sizable shoes as Olivia Murphy looked to replace her star player. Northumbria have brought in six new faces themselves and are looking for a vast improvement on last season’s display which saw them finish the campaign in eighth position.
It was a case of ‘slowly slowly, catchy monkey’ in the opening minutes of the match as plenty of possession did not lead to plenty of goals. In fact, there were more tumbles on court than successful efforts until Toetsie Kambutuku got the visitors underway two and half minutes into the contest. Becky James then started to impose herself on the game and expertly linked up with Michaela McFarlane and attacking partner Lianne Badmin for the hosts. Lightning squeezed into a lead and continued to pressurise their opponents’ possession as Jodie Gibson made several classy interceptions. Olivia Murphy’s side look solid at the back with Afrika Morris forcing errors from the Northumbrian attack and claiming rebounds from missed efforts on goal. The only joy coming for the visiting side when Toetsie managed to get her shot away despite falling out of court and sinking it with aplomb. At the end of the first quarter, Lightning had forged into an 18-8 lead.
It was more of the same at the start of the second quarter for the hosts as a quick turnover and score delighted the home fans. Northumbria were slowly sparking into life as Vicky Burgess started to produce some neat feeds into Toetsie, Lisa Stanley’s side were beginning to display some of their quality. It was in the final third that the visitors were struggling, several passes were misdirected and this caused their teammates to reach off court, unbalanced, to attempt to retrieve the ball. This saw the turnover count rocket skywards and James started to pull the strings in the mid-court as Lightning pulled further clear, 24-11 to the home side. With Loughborough in control, the game entered a scrappy phase as both sides wasted chances and struggled with transition phases. This allowed Northumbria to come back at the hosts a little, with a delicate feed from Marie Ewing to Toetsie a particular highlight. This was then outdone with a disguised pass from Sophia Candappa who found Badmin to score and pull Lightning 29-17 ahead at the interval.
Stanley rung the changes at half-time and brought on Sarah Penny at GD and Claire Brown at C, the youngster making her Superleague debut. This had an immediate impact as Northumbria seemed a lot livelier at the start of the third quarter, showcased by captain Samantha Holt’s fantastic block from the first Lightning centre pass. Murphy also took the chance to make an alteration with Jade Forbes-Wattley slotting in at GK alongside Nicola Caunt. The duo were battling hard and unlucky to see several tips rebound in favour of the opposition. When the home side did work the ball through the mid-court, the direct ball up to Badmin was proving the popular and effective option. However, Northumbria were showing a lot of heart, Emma Woodings with a superb flying interception, sent them on their way to another score. Suddenly the momentum was with the visitors. Loughborough were becoming visibly nervous as their attack saw less and less of the ball, Northumbria were forcing turnovers in the mid-court at every opportunity. As the dust settled on a frantic quarter, the side from the North East were sniffing the most unlikely of comebacks, trailing 30-38.
The pace and tempo of the game noticeably increased in the final quarter as Northumbria added urgency with an immediate score. Michaela McFarlane was now deployed at GA and she settled some tension with a good mid-range shot but it wasn’t long before the nerves reappeared. The hosts were winning the ball in defence but every time they attempted to bring the ball through court they would lose possession and invite pressure back onto Caunt and Forbes-Wattley. In the blink of an eye Northumbria were trailing by five, then three. Toetsie had the chance to move them even closer but her accuracy let her down at the crucial moment and the chance slipped away. Every Lightning score was received a large ovation from the crowd as they sensed their support could drag Murphy’s side over the line.
A time-out helped to restore calm and when play restarted Loughborough scored a quick double and effectively ended the game as a contest. The gap was restored to five with the clock ticking down. Another key factor in settling the contest was Gibson and her incredible athleticism, leaping when at full speed to rob Northumbria of possession on two occasions as they tried to battle back. The full time whistle sounded not a second too soon for the hosts and although far from comfortable, Lightning had secured that vital first win of the season. If Northumbria start as well as they finished, they may well spring a surprise or two this season.
Starting line-ups:
Loughborough Lightning: GS - Badmin, GA - James, WA - McFarlane, C – Candappa, WD –Gibson, GD - Caunt, GK - Morris
Bench: Mason, Moxey, Montgomery, Forbes-Wattley, Sinclair
Team Northumbria: GS -Kambutuku, GA - Worsdale, WA - Ewing, C - Burgess, WD - Woodgins, GD - Holt, GK - Kennedy
Bench: Guy, Johnson, Cameron, Brown, Penny
Shooting stats:
Loughborough Lightning: Badmin: 17/22 – 77%, James: 28/32 – 88%, McFarlane: 4/6 – 67% Team: 49/60 – 82%
Team Northumbria: Kambutuku: 39/52 – 75%, Worsdale: 3/7 – 43%, Ewing: 2/2 – 100% Team: 44/61 – 72