England Internationals return for Lightning win over Northumbria

2nd March 2008

Loughboorouh Lightning 56 - 42 Team Northumbria

Loughborough Lightning finished comfortable 56-42 winners against Team Northumbria in a high-tempo Co-operative Netball Superleague encounter on Monday night (2 March).

The first quarter saw Lightning’s England stars Jo Harten and Jade Clarke return from international duty; Harten continuing her fine shooting form into the first quarter and Clarke bringing tenacity and desire in defence.

The game started goal for goal as Northumbria worked the ball well round the circle, using the height advantage of shooter Emma Lower, which was invaluable under the post.

But Lightning soon picked up momentum with fine intercepts from Olivia Murphy at Wing Defence and speedy work to the goal from their young attacking line-up. Loughborough coped well with the ever increasing umpire whistle to record their best quarter score of the game for an early 17-8 lead.

One change for Team Northumbria in the second quarter saw Vicky Phillips come off the bench to Goal Attack and the accurate Carla Dziwoki move back to Goal Shooter. Northumbria benefited straight away, as the Lightning defence took a few minutes to adapt to the new combination.

Errors crept into the Lightning attacking end too, with Northumbria working hard to disrupt the tempo of the game. Despite the determined Alex Kirk winning back ball for Lightning, Northumbria had their most successful quarter of the match. They patiently worked the ball to the circle to the new Phillips and Dziwoki partnership, who reduced the deficit at half time to 28-21.

It was Lightning’s turn for changes at the start of the third quarter – the experienced Lisa Stephenson replacing Kirk at Goal Attack. Both teams traded momentum with Lightning’s three-goal run bettered by Northumbria’s four. This lead to the crowd increasing the volume and spurring their Lightning team on. The Lightning defence shut Northumbria down for three and a half minutes of this quarter, denying them the chance to score. More flashes of brilliance from Lightning extended the lead to 44-34.

Northumbria made several changes going into the final quarter, with substitute Jenny Montgomery making her mark at Wing Defence by intercepting the first Lightning centre pass. The tiring international week now took its toll on Harten as she uncharacteristically missed five shots in a row and was withdrawn from the court feeling unwell.

This seemed to spur on the Lightning team as they scored four unanswered goals under the untried combination of Stephenson at Shooter and Kirk at Goal Attack. Northumbria fought hard to come back but Lightning ended the game 56-42 winners with captain Jade Clarke receiving the Player of the Match accolade.

Coach Olivia Murphy said “Once again we turned over a lot of ball but now we need to be more clinical in attack. Overall it was a strong all round team performance”

The win keeps Loughborough second in the league with three matches to go until the play-offs at the end of the month.

They next face league leaders Team Bath away this Saturday (7 March), then third placed Mavericks on Thursday 12 March before returning home for the final league match against Brunel Hurricanes on Saturday 14 March at 6pm. For tickets log onto www.loughboroughlightning.co.uk

Quarter scores:

Q1: Q1:17-8, Q2:11-13 , Q3:16-13, Q4: 12-8

Progressive scores:

17-8, 28-21, 44-34, 56-42

Shooting stats:

Jo Harten: 35/42, 83%

Alex Kirk: 7/10, 70 %

Lisa Stephenson: 14/18, 77%