Stormy ride for Surrey

Table-toppers earn hard-fought win

By James Mason   Last updated: 12th February 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Stormy ride for Surrey

Greenway takes the attack to Loughborough

All credit to Lightning, particularly Layla Guscoth who turned over ball after ball and dominated our shooting circle in the early stages of the game.

Mary Beardwood
Quotes of the week

Also see

Surrey Storm extended their lead at the top of the league to eight points following the 53-38 victory against Loughborough Lightning.

The table-toppers have now gone eight successive games without being defeated, highlighting their dominance in the league.

But Storm had to work hard for their win at Guildford Spectrum with the visitors pushing them all the way.

Loughborough started off the match well and put some early pressure on a rather sluggish home team.

In a hard-fought first quarter Storm narrowly led 15-9 after some good defensive work and clinical finishing.

Lightning pressed hard throughout the match and the youthful side made their experienced opponents work for every bit of possession, with goalkeeper Layla Guscoth having a fantastic game.

Storm were finding it difficult to get into their stride and the visitors were keeping in touching distance - with Jo Harten and Alex Kirk netting well.

It took Surrey until the final 15 minutes to start showing their quality and experience, making the most of their shots in the last quarter with an 88 per cent success rate.

Appreciation

Rachel Dunn was once again in top scoring form for Storm, finishing 40 out of her 45 attempts.

Surrey coach Mary Beardwood was slightly disappointed with the team's display but praised the visitor's performance.

She said: "All credit to Lightning, particularly Layla Guscoth who turned over ball after ball and dominated our shooting circle in the early stages of the game.

"There are a lot of promising youngsters in that squad and I must say particularly the goal keeper was outstanding."

Beardwood also mentioned that the busy schedule in the week may have contributed to the lower standard in performance.

She added: "We were off the pace and I think the Glasgow match on Monday took its toll.

"Many players went straight back to work and have had little rest. We weren't sharp and Loughborough chased down a lot of ball.

"But on the positive it's our eighth win of the season and we still won by 15 goals and showed our class after our lead was reduced to five.

"Sometimes it does you good to re-evaluate and we will train harder ready for Mavericks a week Friday."

Click Here for Your Free Bet

Post to your View!

Be the first to post a comment on this story

Add Comment*

Send us your views

Are you a Sky Sports subscriber?

*All fields required, your email address will be kept private