Loughborough Lightning v Leeds Met (Dec 06)

Loughborough Lightning dominated this game with a commanding display of high quality netball. The disappointment of losing their first game at Bath was worked out of the team's 'system' and they were back to their normal high standard of play.

Liv Murphy started the game at centre and Lightning were in to their stride faster than they had been against Bath. However Met were still competitive during the early exchanges and Lightning had to fight hard to end the quarter 5 goals ahead. In the second quarter LL found their rythm and, with the defence regularly turning over Met ball, started to dominate the game. Murphy, Clarke and Percy were commanding in mid-court and Met struggled to prevent Lightning moving the ball through the court with ease. In the shooting circle Astle was having a much better game, holding her space well and providing a great target for the feeding players. With Lisa Stephenson finding form as well Lightning opened up a 22 goals lead by half time.

Lightning lined up differently for the third quarter with Rose Port taking the opportunity to give Liv Murphy a rest bringing on Natasha Hampshire at WA. With Vicky Percy dropping to centre and Verona Tomkin replacing Cara Luck at GD Lightning rang the changes. Unfortunately for Met this didn’t disrupt Lightnings’ momentum. The defence continued to turnover ball, Lightning flowed down court and Hampshire was finding the Astle and Stephenson with ease. The quarter ended with Lightning having extended the lead to 54 - 19.

The final quarter saw even further changes to the Lightning line up. Kate Murphy came on for her first Lightning game with Clarke to centre, Stephenson moving to GS and Percy, playing her third different position of the evening, moving to GA. Lightning's defence remained strong and Met still struggled to bring their ball down court. In attack Lightning found space in the circle but the new shooting combination struggled to find their range. The quarter ended 63 - 27 in LL's favour.

Overall Lightning were happy with their afternoon's work. A much better display than Monday night saw them produce some netball of the quality that took them close to the NSL title last year. Commenting on the performance Rose Port felt that the team had gelled today - "a much stronger defensive performance, ball release was faster and we worked for each other, a flash of the old Lightning.