Thursday 20 March 2014 23:57, UK
Loughborough Lightning’s miserable ZEO Netball Superleague campaign continued with a 65-48 defeat to Celtic Dragons at Sir David Wallace Sports Hall.
The Lightning went into the contest without a win all season and saw their hopes of registering their first points of 2014 drift away in the second half.
Lottysha Cato was responsible for much of the Dragons’ scoring as the hosts fell away dramatically after a promising showing in the opening two quarters.
The Dragons, runners-up in the competition last year, entered the game second from bottom but have now risen to fifth and are still in the play-off hunt.
“We are (feeling) confident and results like tonight only help that,” Dragons goal defence and player of the match Nia Jones told Sky Sports.
“We have struggled for consistency so far this season but we are really trying to come together as a team. We know that this is all we’ve got to work with and we just take every game as it comes.”
She added: “We are using the whole season as a positive. As (head coach) Melissa (Hyndman) said, the emphasis isn’t on results but I, for one, want to win every game. We are are building every week.”
After a closely-fought opening, the Dragons began to take control towards the end of the first quarter, which they finished with a 17-13 lead.
But a Rochelle Powell-inspired scoring streak soon erased the Lightning’s deficit and the 21-year-old goal shooter then edged the hosts into a narrow lead early in the second quarter.
The Dragons eventually stopped the rot and, with towering goal shooter Cato to the fore, were 31-28 in front by the half-time interval.
Cato continued to score with regularity in the third quarter as the Dragons took a firm grip on the contest, stretching their advantage to a comfortable 16 points heading into the final 15 minutes.
The Lightning never threatened a comeback in the closing stages, leaving the Dragons to wrap up a welcome win.
