Thunder slay the Dragons

Jade Clarke sets up a Northern Thunder attack.

NETBALL:

NORTHERN Thunder, the netball team which contains several Oldham players, recorded a fine 66-36 victory over Celtic Dragons at the Castle Leisure Centre, Bury.

Heavy snow and falling temperatures may have kept some fans at home, but the heat was certainly on for this Co-operative Netball Superleague encounter, which turned out to be an old-fashioned battle of wills contested from the top to the bottom of the court.

Thunder went into the game looking for their first win of the season and it was the home side which made the most of a scrappy first quarter to take a seven-goal lead.

Both teams struggled to find their flow in the second quarter and by half-time Thunder led 28-21.

Coach Mike Greenwood elected to make changes to the Thunder ranks, bringing on Charlie Beenham to goal attack and Helen Browne to wing attack, the latter injecting some much-needed pace.

Unforced errors did not help the Welsh side in the third quarter, but it was the dominance of Thunder’s centre court which really made the difference.

A swap of positions which saw Sara Bayman move to wing defence and Jade Clarke switch to centre proved vital, the England pair showing their class and versatility.

The Dragons had no answer and squandered what little possession they had with penalty passes.

Thunder consolidated their position, opening up a 30-goal advantage.

Thunder captain Karen Greig said: “Celtic Dragons came out determined, especially in the first half. There was very tight marking and it disrupted our flow.

“But we dug deep in a bid to put a big margin between ourselves and the Dragons and, with consistency and a drop in error rate, I am proud we won by 30.”

Thunder’s next two games are at home, against Glasgow Wildcats on Friday, January 8 (7.30pm), and Loughborough Lightning on Sunday, January 10 (3pm).