Loughborough Lightning vs Team Bath - Jan06

Netball SuperLeague: Inspired Loughborough blast away leaders Bath

Loughborough Lightning 51 – Team Bath 43

On Saturday a storming display by Loughborough Lightning saw Team Bath sink to their first defeat of the SuperLeague season. The first quarter saw Bath taking a five point lead by mid-quarter with their England shooters Rachel Dunn and Pamela Cookey setting the pace, but Lightning clawed it back to end the quarter one point down. The second quarter was nip and tuck with neither team being able to build a lead, but Lightning shaded this period and the half ended all square.

In the second half Lightning picked-up the intensity of their play putting Bath under tremendous pressure. The driving force for Lightning was the mid-court trio of Atkinson, Murphy and Clarke who started to play with a sustained pace and aggression that Bath couldn’t match. At the same time in defence Agbeze and Brown tightened their marking and Bath began to miss crucial shots. Whilst Bath’s defence was still playing well, shooters Astle and Stevenson kept working hard to finish the scoring opportunities Lightning were creating and slowly Loughborough edged clear. By the middle of the final quarter Lightning’s lead had extended to just over ten goals and in the end they were comfortable winners by 51-43. Lightning stay in third place in the NSL table but have closed the gap on Bath to only two points. A place in the championship play-offs seems assured for Lightning on this performance.