Thunder storm back in style

NETBALL; AFTER experiencing their first defeat of the 2011 FIAT Netball Superleague season, Northern Thunder responded with a carefully-crafted 58-40 win over the Celtic Dragons.

Thunder had clearly prepared well for this game, neutralising the threat of shooter Lottysha Cato in front of goal from the start.

Both sides took a little while to suss out each other, with the lead changing hands several times in the first quarter.

Kerry Almond found ways to intercept any pass less than

perfect into Cato, and her stats showed that six of those turnovers were then converted at the other end.

Thunder head coach Mike Greenwood was impressed with his defender.

He said: “Kerry had a stormer against a big goal-shooter. She knew she wasn’t going to get the ball every time, but put constant pressure on her and forced the shooter into mistakes.”

Some top quality passes from England pair Jade Clarke and Sara Bayman saw the ball launched from the centre third into the circle, speeding up the delivery for the home-side shooters.

Greenwood was a happy man at the end of match. It was Thunder’s 10th win from 11 matches.

He added: “The game was easier than we thought and, after the defeat by Mavericks, it was a brilliant to bounce back.

“Our young shooter Kathryn Turner stepped up and was fully involved throughout the game.

“It has rounded off a tough nine-day spell, and three wins out of four ain’t bad.

“We’re looking forward to causing a storm down at Surrey next week.”

Melissa Hyndman, the head coach of the Dragons, felt Cato was the victim of inconsistent umpiring and was blown out of the game.

She said: “What do players have to do to get protection?

“Swear at the referee or punch players in the head? Lynsey (Armitage) played well, but she was allowed to get balls that our player was being penalised for.

“The umpires let her down and took the game away from us.”