Loughborough Lightning took on Glasgow Wildcats on Saturday 13th March 2009 at the Kelvin Hall ISA, Glasgow in their latest Co-Operative Superleague fixture. However Lightning’s luck did not change, and they recorded another defeat on the road.
Olivia Murphy named a relatively unchanged side from last week’s defeat , with the only change being the inclusion of seventeen year old school girl Mia Archer at goal keeper. After a delayed start to the game due to the floor lines having to be relayed, Lightning quickly found their feet. Young Archer immediately made an impression on her Co-Operative Superleague debut, overturning the first 3 balls into the defensive circle. And at the other end of the court, Jo Harten and Becky James consistently converted Lightning’s possession, not missing a shot between them all quarter. Lightning went in at the end of the quarter deservedly 13-10 up.
Wildcats realised they were going to need to up their game if they were going to break down a very determined Lightning defence, who had let little past them so far. Kairin Connell came on at wing attack, as Gaile Higgins moved into the shooting circle in an attempt to fill the deficit from the first quarter. The changes immediately appeared to be paying off as Wildcats immediately caused Lightning problems. Their goal defence, Claire Cooper, intercepted many of Lightning’s attempts and supported well in attack. Lightning also struggled to deal with the physical presence of Wildcats’ centre, Claire Brownie, as she started to dominate the centre court. Despite going ahead by two goals on numerous occasions, Lightning failed to capitalise and Wildcats manage to claw their way back into the game, making the half time score even at 21-21.
Murphy made her first changes of the game at the start of the second half, in an attempt to add momentum to a Lightning attack which had been well closed down by a vigilant Wildcats defence. Alex Kirk came on at goal attack, with Micheala Macfarlane coming on at wing attack. Masego Moutang also came on at wing defence in an attempt to add pace coming forward from defence. The quarter started very closely, with both teams converting their own centre pass. However, Wildcats soon found their rhythm and took the lead, and Lightning struggled to maintain the form they had shown in the first half. The Wildcats defence started to dominate the Lightning attack, forcing them to make errors, and Lightning heads went down. They were second to loose balls, and the long distance shots that had been going in before, were no longer being converted. At the end of the third quarter Wildcats took over the lead, 34-27.
Lightning made more changes at the start of the final quarter, in an attempt to regain the lead. Star shooter Jo Harten moved out to goal attack, with Lianne Badmin moving in to goal shooter, as Lightning looked for longer range feeds. Again, Loughborough Lightning struggled with the consistency of the Wildcats defence, as Wildcats continued the form they had found in the third quarter. As Wildcats continued to go from strength to strength, Lightning faded away as, despite their brave attempts, they had nothing to come back at them with. This resulted in another defeat for Lightning, as Glasgow Wildcats took the game 47-37.
It had been another brave performance from Loughborough Lightning, who, as they often have this season, started the game well, but they struggled as the experienced Wildcats heads found their feet in the second half. However, there were again many positive to take from the game in terms of individual performances, and debutant Mia Archer earned herself the Lightning player of the match award for what had been a courageous and impressive performance.
Murphy again highlighted Lightning’s lack of confidence, saying “We struggled to respond when we lost the lead and didn’t have the confidence to try anything new. We need to regain some of this confidence, and fight, before facing Thunder on Saturday.”
Lightning will be looking for their second home victory of the season next Saturday 20th March as they take on Northern Thunder at the Sir David Wallace Sports hall, Loughborough University. For tickets or more info, please visit www.loughboroughlightning.co.uk.
Report by Kelly Somers
