Lightning beat Thunder 58-57 thanks to third-quarter blitz
Monday 24 April 2017 13:39, UK
Loughborough Lightning made it 11 straight wins in the Vitality Netball Superleague after a one-goal victory over nearest rivals Manchester Thunder.
The two form teams went head-to-head at the Thunderdome, but the home side, who have rattled off an impressive eight straight wins, were blown away after a third-quarter blitz by the impregnable Lightning.
Lightning have been in imperious form at the mid-point of the season and are now odds-on to claim a spot at the Final Four.
Thunder came out the blocks quicker and took a 14-12 lead and they held their two-goal cushion at half-time after which Loughborough came out and crushed their opponents by overturning the deficit to lead 44-38.
And the hosts put up a magnificent fight to close the gap in a topsy-turvy final quarter with Thunder hanging on for maximum points.
Team Bath got their season back on track with a 58-48 victory over Celtic Dragons while Team Northumbria recorded just their second win of the season as they upset Hertfordshire Mavericks 58-55.
Wasps beat injury-ravaged Sirens on Sunday to tighten their grip on second place with a fifth successive victory.
More than 1,000 fans packed the Ricoh Arena to see Tamsin Greenway's team run out 65-41 winners and move 12 points clear of fifth-placed with seven games to go.
The shooting prowess of veteran Rachel Dunn and young prodigy George Fisher - who racked up 63 goals between them - did the damage for Wasps who next go to Loughborough in week 12.
You can follow the next Vitality Superleague clash between Severn Stars v Surrey Storm on Sky Sports Mix from 7.15pm on Monday, April 24, and don't forget to catch all the action across our Sky Sports platforms. Follow us @SkyNetball.
The regular season league home and away matches run from February to June, culminating in semi-finals and a Grand Final to determine the league champion.
