Thunder make it two wins from two games as Sirens are outclassed
Monday 19 February 2018 21:49, UK
Manchester Thunder dominated UWS Sirens to make a winning start at their new Belle Vue Stadium in Monday's Vitality Superleague netball action.
Thunder, who are eyeing their first title in four years, kept up their 100 per cent start to the new season with a convincing 60-43 victory in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
"It was fantastic," said Thunder head coach Karen Grieg. "We put a lot of wrongs right in training and the girls were really focused. They transferred what they did in training onto the court tonight."
The 2012 and 2014 Superleague winners finished third in last season's competition, but Grieg's side, who edged out Seven Stars in a thrilling contest on the opening weekend, showed their class as they dominated the early stages to open up a 15-9 lead by the end of the opening quarter.
Sirens finished sixth last season, but have rang in the changes during the off-season, and are seen as genuine contenders for a top-four spot.
But the Scottish outfit were unable to feed their shooters as they attempted to make a comeback and it was no surprise to see Thunder pick them off to build a 10 point lead with a 31-21 advantage at half-time.
The hosts had done their homework and the trio of Liana Leota, Kathryn Turner, and Amy Clinton combined efficiently and effectively to make it 46-30 at the end of the third quarter before completing a comprehensive win by 17 goals.
"I think we really stepped up from last week's game, " said player of the match Liana Leota. "We trained hard on connections and keeping connected throughout the whole court, not only in attack, but in defence as well."
Sirens' coach Tanya Dearns said: "We made a lot of personal errors with our pass and catch game. In netball you get 50 per cent of the ball and we've given them 25 of that 50 per cent back to Thunder. If you're going to do that on a consistent basis then you're going to be on the wrong end of the scoreline every game."
Sirens travel to the Ricoh Arena on Thursday night as they take on defending champion Wasps Netball before a clash against Team Northumbria next Monday. Thunder play their second home game in a week when they play host to Tam Northumbria on Friday night.
And we will be back for more action when Loughborough Lightning host Manchester Thunder on Monday, February 26 from 6.45pm on Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Mix.
In the night's other matches, Team Bath defeated Celtic Dragons 54-35 while Benecos Mavericks upset Surrey Storm 64-62 in a humdinger.
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