Surrey Sports Park hosted the battle of undefeated teams on Saturday evening at the FIAT Netball Superleague, with Loughborough making the brief trip south to take on Tamsin Greenway’s side.
The teams won in contrasting fashion in Round 1, with Storm backing up their claims as potential winners with a comprehensive victory over Hertfordshire Mavericks whilst Lightning had to show some composure to defeat a resilient Northumbria side who had threatened to pull off a dramatic late fight back. It was to be the hosts’ night as they dominated large spells of the game to the delight of another sell-out crowd at Surrey Sports Park.
It was a fantastic start to the game as the visitors shot out of the blocks and instantly took the game to their illustrious hosts with a turnover to lead 2-0 within the space of a couple of minutes. The early tension was obviously felt in the crowd as the exuberance of the build-up had died down. A few minutes later and Storm had fought back to 7-7 in a real tussle of a quarter, both sides showcasing some high energy.
At the heart of the Storm work was the ever reliable captain Becky Trippick who provided the feed for Pamela Cookey to nudge the hosts ahead and as it would be the case, start the snowball effect. Becky James and Lianne Badmin continued to find good scores from range but the supply line was drying up as the Storm defence of Hannah Reid and Katy Holland made their presence felt. In the blink of an eye the home side were converting turnovers and scoring from their own centre pass, suddenly a tight opening had remarkably led to a 22-9 advantage to Storm come the end of the quarter.
Rachel Dunn was one of the main protagonists, as is to be expected, in the heavy scoring of the first quarter and she wasn’t about to rest on any laurels. The England shooter regularly making space under the post to be fed by her international teammate Tamsin Greenway. This was professional, smooth and seemingly effortless from the Storm side. Lightning were having to work increasingly hard to remain in the game and Jodie Gibson was up to her old leaping tricks as she stole ball from under the nose of the Storm attack with a beautiful leaping intercept.
However, this was more of a case of damage limitation. At the attacking end the movement was becoming more hopeful rather incisive, with a couple of feeds going extravagantly long and straight out of play. At the opposing end, Reid remained suitably stubborn as she closed the door on several Lightning breaks. The England trio of Dunn, Cookey and Greenway were starting to sparkle and were playing with the confidence expected after their fantastic opening win. The player-coach was trying to be the catalyst throughout, moving all over the court and calling for the pass at every possible opportunity.
The first half was summed up in one particular move as Dunn, rebounding off her own shot, leapt out of play to make the pass back for a waiting Cookey to score. The fans were on their feet. Holland also seized the opportunity to show her class with an athletic intercept and pick-up as the Storm pressure was relentless.
Olivia Murphy’s side were sharp in patches but lacked the spark of their opponents, one occasion saw Gibson claim another ball she had no right to reach but her prowess was immediately undone by a misplaced pass from her colleagues. At the interval Storm domination remained, 38-16 to the hosts. It has to be noted that Surrey Sports Park is a fantastic place for a half-time show. A shooting competition was crowded with delighted youngsters looking to score and be in the chance of winning some Storm goodies, and the Storm Troopers are a group of dancers who ensure the party atmosphere remains in the Arena.
With the crowd re-hyped and the vuvuzelas making an appearance, we were well set for the second half. Greenway took the chance to alter her line-up with Lorraine Betsy on at GK, and Adele Modeste replacing her coach at WA.
Loughborough also brought on fresh legs with Jenny Montgomery replacing Gibson at WD, Jade Forbes-Wattley moved in to GK and Jordan Moxey continued at WA from where she ended the second quarter following a knock to Badmin. Lightning were showing some good fight at the start of the third quarter with Lucy Adams at centre and Montgomery making early interceptions.
Four minutes into the quarter and umpire Gary Burgess sounded his whistle to stop the game and rushed over to his bag, with the crowd wondering what the official had spotted it soon became clear as he pulled some tape from the bag and rushed to pull down a post. The eagle eyed umpire had spotted half of the net and become detached and was flailing around, no doubt in a bad way following the heavy scoring of Dunn and Cookey.
Storm continued ticking the score over even if the tempo had slowed a little, Greenway’s side were calm and composed and never looked out of their comfort zone. Natalie Seaton and Betsy made light work of any Lightning attacks, expertly breaking up the play and retrieving possession for Storm as they pulled further clear, 55-24 at the end of the third quarter.
With the result looking as much as confirmed. the atmosphere dampened a touch as a cagey last quarter was played, Storm playing in the manner of a side that knew that had already secured a comfortable victory. This was in full show when Cookey cheekily played a one two with the post rather use Dunn to score after Lightning had conceded possession on the baseline.
Loughborough took advantage of this and showed some fantastic spirit to keep plugging away at the hosts and were deserved winners of the quarter, if not the contest as a whole. Olivia Mason looked solid when introduced, sinking some long range shots with ease. In honesty it was always going to be a struggle for the visitors and a game which Storm would have expected to win. The contest went with the formbook and the expectations, Surrey march on, while the resolve and mental strength of Lightning will now be tested as they face Northern Thunder at home next week.
England Netball report, www.englandnetball.co.uk
Sportsister, The Women’s Sports Magazine
