Fiat Superleague-Yorkshire Jets 46 - 38 Loughborough Lighting
Yorkshire Jets 46 - 38 Loughborough Lighting
It may not have been the desired result, but Lightning’s away 46-38 defeat on Saturday night to Yorkshire Jets provided a much needed glimmer of hope to take into the imminent phase two of the Fiat Superleague season.
With just one match remaining of the opening phase one, Lightning have just the solitary victory to their name. However often the scores haven’t been truly reflective of their efforts, and as a result, their current league position - rooted to the foot of the table - is arguably somewhat harsh.
Friday’s encounter, however, was by far a different story to the heavy defeats suffered previously, as they pushed an in-form Yorkshire Jets side to their limit in what was an intense encounter, arguably won in an impressive third quarter from the hosts.
A tribute to the competitive nature of her squad, coach Olivia Murphy made two changes to the side who started the defeat at Hertfordshire Mavericks. After the height of Lianne Badmin appeared to work against Mavs, she opted to start with the tall shooter, with Olivia Mason dropping to the bench. Michaela Macfarlane also replaced Jordan Moxey at wing attack as Lightning looked to increase options in to their attacking circle.
Immediately upon the umpire’s whistle, the tone for the game was set. Both defences worked hard to ensure their opposing attacks had little time or space on the ball – as a result there were numerous turnovers, making the game somewhat scrappy at times. Jade Forbes Wattley continued her recent impressive vein of form as she forced the home side into numerous mistakes in the final quarter. However, for every mistake she forced Jets into, the same was happening at the other end, and as the game went on, Lightning, as they have done on so many occasions this season, began to struggle to find a way to break down the Jet’s defence, allowing the home side to capitalise and take the quarter 15-9.
Opting to introduce Jamaican Afrika Morris at quarter time, the second quarter started positively for the purples. Yorkshire spilled their opening centre pass, allowing Macfarlane and Sophia Candappa to feed Becky James who did not disappoint, cooly converting the resultant shot.
Frustration is a term that may well have summed up Lightning’s season, and this quarter summed it up like no other; when it clicked there were moments of the sublime, however at times it was disjointed and scrappy. Candappa, was as ever, digging her heels in at centre, and a tough contest emerged between her and her opposing number Jacqui Russell. Her spirit drove Lightning on, as they showed character and desire, even if, at times, it was to little avail.
As the clock ran down on the quarter, there was a brief stoppage for an injury to Jets’ goal shooter Jo Walker, who was removed with her leg worryingly in a brace. However it was Lightning who finished the most positive, the score having narrowed to 22-18 upon the quarter time whistle.
Due to the nature of Lightning’s defeats in previous weeks, this was perhaps the first time in a while Murphy’s youngsters would have been able to enter the second half of a match with the true belief that victory was still within their reach. However, any hopes they had of a continued resurgence were soon dampened as Jets recovered from the disappointment of losing their shooter to take the third quarter in style.
They piled the pressure on their visitors, clearly realising that Lightning were short of confidence when going forward. A particularly impressive quarter from wing defence Gemma McDermott appeared to thwart Lightning’s ideas, and smooth play in the Jets attack meant any turnovers were soon converted.
This does not mean to say that Lightning went down without a fight; Candappa continued her wholehearted battle in centre court, with Jodie Gibson flying in for interceptions at wing defence herself, culminating in a collision with Natalie Panagarry which sent her tumbling to the floor.
Despite all of Lightning’s efforts, the Jets’ pressure paid off as they extended their lead from four to 14 by the end of the quarter, taking the score to 37-23.
An uphill battle faced Lightning as they entered the final period of the game. In an attempt to rectify their failings of the previous quarter, Murphy introduced summer signing Jennifer Montgomery to the action at wing defence, with the ever energetic Gibson moving to goal defence.
And the changes appeared to pay off, as once again they began to find Badmin in the shooting circle, and she duly converted. Becky James also came into the game after a relatively quiet period, with Candappa once again showing why she received her England call up in the summer, executing a range of balls into the circle with maturity beyond her years. Soon, in stark contrast to the third quarter, Jets began to look the uncomfortable of the two sides.
Despite being a valiant effort from Lightning and, arguably one of the best performances of the season, Jets’ demolition of the visitors in the third quarter appeared to be too much to muster a recovery from. As a result, Jets took the game 46-38.
Lightning's final game of phase one is this Thursday evening away at Celtic Dragons. Please check back to the Loughborough Lightning website ( www.loughboroughlightning.co.uk) at the end of the week for further announcements about phase two.
