New-look side tame Wildcats

LOOKING UP... Shannon Westwood, of Oldham under-16s, tries to pick out a team-mate.

NETBALL: NORTHERN Thunder are sitting pretty at the top of the FIAT Netball Superleague after sweeping aside Glasgow Wildcats 53-31.

Coach Suzy Chapman tried out several new combinations — and they paid off as players, who had yet to feature in the team’s first two wins, got some valuable court time.

Last season’s NTL captain Laura Malcolm had a run-out, along with England under-19s player Jodie Gibson.

It was an unfamiliar starting seven, with Jade Clarke on the bench and Malcolm starting at wing defence, New Zealander Jess Langman played three quarters of the game at wing attack and one at centre in the second half.

Gibson made a rare second-half appearance at goal keeper, while at the other end Krista Enziano was given the opportunity to impress under the ring.

Wildcats, who have yet to settle on their strongest seven, put last year’s top shooter Lesley MacDonald in a defensive role as Nicola Collins, Rachel Holmes and Lynsey Gallagher were left in charge of piling up the points.

The statistics suggest they need to sharpen up and land more of their attempts on goal as 24 shots missed the net.

It was a different story at the other end as Karen Greig scored 28 times from 35 attempts — an 80-per-cent success rate — with Enziano bagging 16 from 20.

Chapman was pleased the entire match-day squad got a taste of the action. She said: “This was a good game for Thunder to try out combinations — the young players did a great job.

“We didn’t play to our full potential and need to get our flow back for our next game, but overall it was a good win and two points in the bag.”


THUNDER’S next game is at home against Tracey Neville’s Team Northumbria at The Castle Leisure, Bury, on Saturday (4pm).

THUNDER’S home game against Leeds Carnegie was postponed due to a leaking roof which made the court unsafe. The fixture will be rescheduled soon. Existing tickets will remain valid.