Loughborough Lightning got their 2016 Vitality Netball Superleague campaign off to the perfect start on Super Saturday as they secured a convincing 65-34 victory over Yorkshire Jets to go top of the league.
Taking place at the Genting Arena in Birmingham, Super Saturday saw all eight teams in action, with Sky Sports showing this celebration of netball live for over eight hours.
To a thunderous cheer from the 8,000 strong crowd inside the Genting Arena, Sasha Corbin got the game underway for Lightning and within 12 seconds Peace Proscovia had put the team in purple in front, which set the tone for the first quarter.
Jets, playing in pink, battled hard over the first few minutes to peg Lightning back, but by half way through the first quarter Lightning were firmly in the ascendancy. Ugandan star shooter Proscovia was in scintillating from, scoring time after time to see Lightning start to build an ever growing lead.
After 15 minutes the hooter sounded to end the first quarter, but due to yet another foul from Jets goalkeeper Vanes-Mari Du Toit, Proscovia was able to bag another goal to leave the score 15-9.
A string of fouls by Jets at the start of the second quarter saw the goals come thick and fast for the attacking duo of Proscovia and Walker, and accurate shooting took the score to 19-9 inside three minutes. As the quarter progressed it became ever clearer that Jets couldn’t handle Proscovia’s aerial presence, which was being used to great affect thanks to the pin-point passing of England duo Hannah Joseph and Sasha Corbin.
It wasn’t just in attack that Lightning were dominating though, as Agbeze and Trip kept Jets at bay, whilst captain Clarke, back in Loughborough colours for the first time in six years, called the shots from wing defence. The scoring may have slowed, largely due to the two sides being unable to maintain the furious first quarter tempo, but Jets just couldn’t penetrate the Lightning defence.
Time and time again, Trip and Agbeze broke up the Jets attack, allowing Clarke and Corbin to link up and start yet another Lightning move. Typically they ended with another point on the board thanks to Proscovia or Loughborough University MSc student Vanessa Walker.
To read the full match report online please click here.
Lightning travel to Hertfordshire Mavericks next Saturday before returning to the David Wallace Sports Hall to take on Celtic Dragons in their first home game of the season. Tickets for that game against Dragons and the home game against Manchester Thunder two days later can be bought here.
University staff can win tickets to Lightning’s first game of the season at Loughborough University on 13th February against Celtic Dragons. Enter here.
Report courtesy of Loughborough University
