Loughborough Lightning v Gloucester-Hartpury
Let’s start at the end.
Alev Kelter drives over the line for Lightning to bring the scores level. Helena Rowland converts. Time is nearly up. 38-36.
Glos-pury’s first loss of the season awaits.
Helen Nelson kicks her drop-out return long, but Sarah Beckett makes a huge thrust upfield. Mia Venner finds Tat Heard inside, and she goes over to clinch a thirteenth win out of thirteen. Never say die.
This was by a street the toughest challenge G-H have met all season, and they’ve played Sarries twice.
For Lightning it was the classic case of ‘so near and yet so far’.
Back to the start
G-H had taken the lead before some spectators had made themselves comfortable. A reception error at kick-off, and Venner was over for the first of what proved to be a hat-trick.
Despite errors by both their half-backs the Cherry and Whites scored again, as Lizzie Goulden fed inside to Venner. 0-12
But Lightning were impudent enough to put three scores on the board by half-time, through Sadia Kabeya, Lilli Ives Campion and Bo Westcombe-Evans. Some really impressive play.¾
You might suspect players picked for England’s training squad were anxious to make a favourable impression.
Half-time: 21-12
Could the champions be facing a first defeat of the season? Lightning had spotted a weakness in the visitors’ defences; Goulden couldn’t match the skills of Emma Sing, who was watching from the stand.
Tries by Fancy Bermudez and a second by BWE pointed that way. 31-12.
Glos-pury had a mountain to climb, but they had quality pitons to help them up the cliff face. They came from the bench.
In the end, it was the introduction of players like Sarah Beckett, El Perry and Kate Williams that swung the game.
They even had to survive two yellow cards, to Venner and Goulden. For several minutes they were down to 13, such was the pressure the African Violets applied. (By the way, it meant the visitors couldn’t wear their pale violet away shirts.)
That is where Lightning show their recurrent weakness. For all the starry players they possess, they can rarely avoid including others with far less experience. They were unable to exploit that numerical advantage as purists would wish.
It was in the final quarter that the difference told. Despite their own errors – and they were plenty – G-H know how to win.
The closing minutes were as dramatic as any we have known in a thrill-packed season. Helena Rowland tried her darndest to unlock the door to victory, but the visitors’ final thrust finished the day.
Result: Loughborough Lightning 38 Gloucester-Hartpury 43
Player of the Match: Mia Venner
Teams
Lightning:
1 YOUND 2 TREDER 3 BELISLE 4 IVES CAMPION 5 EHRECKE 6 HIBBERT-JONES (captain) 7 KABEYA 8 LUTUI 9 MAUDE 10 ROWLAND 11 WESTCOMBE-EVANS 12 MORRALL 13 KELTER 14 BERMUDEZ 15 MATAITOGA
16 STATHOPOULOS 17 CURPHEY 18 SAGAPOLU 19 BOYD 20 WAUDBY 21 BRODY 22 DAVEY 23 NELSON
G-H:
1 SAMUDA 2 K. JONES 3 MUIR 4 MONAGHAN 5 ELSE 6 LEWIS 7 BROCK 8 MATTHEWS 9 HUNT (captain) 10 GEORGE 11 LUND 12 HEARD 13 DALLAVALLE 14 VENNER 15 GOULDEN
16 SIMPSON 17 PERRY 18 TUIPULOTI 19 BECKETT 20 K. WILLIAMS 21 COPSON 22 GREEN 23 BUNKER
Afterthoughts
It would have been so much better if Lighning had prevailed. All credit to the triple champions, but a league that knows only one winner is a bore. (See Wolfhounds in the Celtic Challenge.)
Mo Hunt is now a year older. Happy birthday! But will she remain the first-choice England No 9? Much depends on Lucy Packer’s recovery schedule.
Nel Metcalfe is out for at least 12 weeks with a knee injury.
Once more a match was played under different rules from the rest. A TMO was present to help the referee decide tight calls. They helped swing the game one way or another. Totally unfair on the other seven clubs.
Did the opening error lose the game, or is that too simplistic?
This was yet another humdinger of a PWR contest.
