Thunder at the double

Scroll down for Video

NETBALL: TITLE hopefuls Northern Thunder followed up a 61-39 defeat of Leeds Carnegie with an equally emphatic 67-38 win at home to Glasgow Wildcats in the Co-operative Netball Superleague.

Thunder, who are already through to the end-of-season play-offs, trailed Glasgow 4-1 in the early stages, but by the end of a high-scoring first quarter had opened up a 19-13 lead.

Despite playing a double header weekend — they had faced Leeds 24 hours earlier — the home side showed little signs of fatigue.

The second quarter was dominated by Thunder, who returned 13 goals from 18 attempts to stretch their advantage.

Crowd favourite Anastascia Wilson came on for the second half, collecting rebounds and fighting hard for possession, while Karen Greig, nicknamed “The Magician”, fed classy ball.

At 50-24 going into the last quarter, the match was over, but Wildcats battled to the end and were only three goals behind (17-14) for the final period.

Thunder’s assistant coach Suzy Chapman said: “I was pleased with the mental and physical preparation which helped us to maintain a consistent performance.”

Meanwhile, Thunder’s 61-39 victory over Leeds wrecked the West Yorkshire outfit’s hopes of breaking into the top four.

It was always going to be a physical encounter with so much at stake for Leeds.

Afrika Morris was keen to make things tough for Greig, who had to work hard to keep up a steady flow of goals.

Thunder bossed the opening exchanges to lead 16-10 at the first change of ends, and they were clear by a 31-19 margin at half-time.

Wilson, a member of the military from Trinidad and Tobago, made her debut in the second half.

She admitted to being nervous, but showed great elevation and athleticism, and looks a useful recruit in the run-in.

Leading 47-30 at the start of the last quarter, Thunder put another 14 points on the board to Leeds’ nine to wrap up a comfortable win.

Thunder skipper Greig said: “We knew Leeds would come out strong from the start but we stepped up quarter by quarter.

“There were some great turnovers from defence which went through to goal and it’s an excellent result.”

Wilson, who is hoping to compete in the Common-wealth Games later in the year, added:, “I was excited about going on to play and I enjoyed my first experience of the Superleague.”

More videos and team news at www.thundernetball.com/