Thunder secure Roses boost

HIGH-FLYER: Thunder’s Chelsea Pitman glides through the air during her side’s hard-fought victory at Yorkshire Jets.

Yorkshire Jets 51, Manchester Thunder 54

MANCHESTER Thunder edged out Yorkshire Jets in a pulsating Superleague Roses battle in Leeds.

Jets came out with all guns blazing and ripped through Thunder’s centre play, seemingly caught off guard by the hosts’ strong start.

But before the Jets knew it, Thunder was surging ahead, scoring seven points without reply.

The visitors led 12-11 at the end of the first period.

The second was a more cagey affair, with both teams cutting down on the errors they had made in the first quarter.

Thunder Coach Tracey Neville opted to keep the faith with Chelsea Pitman, who had not managed to force her way into the game in the first half.

Thunder found some rhythm that had escaped them since midway through the first period, and edged into a four-points lead.

A superb pass from Laura Malcolm drew loud cheers from the travelling support as the home crowd fell silent for the first time in the match.

Thunder continued to press but the Jets stayed in touch, coming up with some textbook attacking play of their own.

The pace was exhilarating in the closing moments, but Thunder held on to clinch victory..