Lightning ease passed Dragons ...

A good crowd of 300 turned up on a cold and rather wet night in Loughborough to see Lightning attempt to get back to winning ways against Celtic Dragons. After their narrow defeat to Mavericks the previous week Lightning needed to re-assert themselves and get a good win under their belts. Unfortunately during the week Jade Clarke had dislocated a finger during training so yet again Lightning were going in to a match without their strongest line-up available.

Despite that set back Lightning started the game with real purpose. Strong defensive work saw Lighting turn over Dragons ball on many occasion during the first quarter. The ball was also moving down court with relative ease and Astle and Stephenson were shooting well. Half way through the quarter it looked as though Lightning might finish it with a 7 or 8 goal lead. Sadly the occasional passing error, missed shot or defensive lapse saw Lightning squander some of their turnover ball and they had only created a four goal cushion by quarter time.

During the break Dragons swapped Mayes and Baxter at C/WA and brought on Bliss at GD. Despite these changes an unchanged Lightning side continued the good work they had started in the first quarter. Playing a more controlled and clinical game in this quarter Lighting set about extending their lead and putting the game beyond Dragons reach. With Agbeze and Tomlin beginning to exert more and more pressure in defense Dragons were struggling to find any fluency in their play. With Murphy marshalling the attack end the score began to mount. Lightning won the quarter 13-6 to set up a commanding 29-18 lead at half-time.

At half time Rose Port decided to put Natasha Hampshire on at WA and move Murphy to C. Hampshire settled well in front of the home crowd and Lightning kept their fluency moving forwards. At the same time Lightning maintained their defensive intensity with Agbeze moving to GD and Reid coming on at GK. Overall Lightning continued to dominate the game. Dragons reverted to their first quarter mid-court combination and always kept working but Lightning retained the edge all the way down the court. Whilst not being quite as dominant as the second periodr Lightning still extended their lead, taking the quarter by 4 and leading 43-27 at three quarter time.

The final quarter saw Alex Astle rested after another strong shooting display and Becky James entered the fray at GS. Reid made way for Penny at GK and Lightning still continued to boss the game. Hampshire was playing a solid game at WA and with Liv Murphy linking defense and attack Dragons didn’t look like closing the game. James took a few minutes to settle in the shooting circle but then found her range to finish the quarter scoring 10/13. Dragons finished strongly to have their best quarter of the match but Lightning took the fourth quarter honours 15-11. Final score 58-38.

Lightning will look back at this game with a mixture of thoughts and feelings. A good win and a dominant performance were important at this stage of the season. However Lightning should, and would, have been disappointed with anything less. Despite getting on top and staying on top Lightning will also have to reflect on the chances that went begging. Particularly in the first quarter there were clear chances to almost put the game out of Dragons reach in the first fifteen minutes and they weren’t taken. Too often Lightning were turning over great ball with superb defensive work and then not converting so chances to crank up the pressure on the opposition went begging. The performances from Stephenson and Hampshire were probably the individual highlights for Lightning whilst having Agbeze available for a full game was a real plus. Next stop is away at Northern Thunder a game Lightning should win but it wont be easy away in Liverpool.