Thunder off to winning start

FORMER Oldham player Kathryn Turner makes her presence felt for Thunder.

NETBALL: NORTHERN Thunder opened their Fiat Netball Superleague campaign with a 44-39 victory over Hertfordshire Mavericks at the Castle Leisure Centre, Bury.

In a game played in front of television cameras, Thunder led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter with shooter and captain Karen Greig on song.

Goal-machine Greig continued where she left off in the second quarter, with Kerry Almond and Emma Dovey excellent in defence and England internationals Jade Clarke and Sara Bayman working well through the thirds.

Trailing 25-14 entering the penultimate quarter, Mavericks responded to win the third 10-9 thanks to some effective changes.

And the visitors were at it again in the final quarter, pulling back five more points to finish narrow losers.

“We’ve got a good first game under our belts, and we showed some excellent netball," said Thunder's acting head coach Suzy Chapman.

"It was a physical game, as expected, but credit to our girls who kept their composure towards the end when Mavericks were coming back at us.”