Dragons lose Thunder thriller

Northern Thunder emerged with a thrilling one-point victory over bottom side Celtic Dragons after a nail-biting contest in Bury.

Dragons coach ends stay with narrow defeat

Northern Thunder emerged with a thrilling one-point victory over bottom side Celtic Dragons after a nail-biting contest in Bury. Bottom-of the-table Dragons wanted to give coach Sue Gaudion a winning send-off, but they were narrowly beaten 42-41 in a nip-and-tuck contest. If the penalty shot on the final whistle had crept in then the Dragons would have nabbed another point in the Co-operative Netball Superleague table. One more goal would have sent departing coach Gaudion on her way with the team's first draw and third point of the season, but it wasn't to be. Spectators were treated to end-to-end action and close scores throughout, which was probably less appreciated on the bench. The first quarter saw the home side take a three-goal lead, Karen Greig nailing her shots despite the attentions of six-footer Lyndsay Keable.

Team effort

A more coordinated team approach to the second quarter was a banker for Celtic Dragons, who managed an eight-goal turnaround to go into the half-time break five ahead. Northern Thunder's error count was a little high, something to work on in training no doubt. Greig's calm confidence in the circle helped the home-side start the second half on the right note, as they sank six goals straight off and after seven minutes led the quarter 8-1. The arrival of Emma Dovey at goal-defence for Northern Thunder certainly boosted the team. She went on to earn the Co-operative Player of the Match award despite having trained that morning with England's under-19 squad. If we've learned anything this season, it's not to leave a match before that final whistle blows and not to write off the Dragons in the final quarter. The Welsh side hauled themselves back into the match to set-up a thoroughly nail-biting finale. On the whistle the Dragons won a penalty shot that would have tied up the result, but Cara Lea Moseley was unlucky to miss.

Hard fought

Northern Thunder captain Karen Greig said: "It was a hard fought game but we kept our nerve at times when we could have crumbled, and kept coming back hard. This was a good win." Celtic Dragons were frustrated by how close they came to taking points in coach Gaudion's last match in charge before heading down under to Canberra. Her message to the team that has moved back off the bottom of the table into eighth was to improve their consistency. She told the squad they were consistent for three quarters of their matches and now need to concentrate for the whole match. Northern Thunder:GS: Karen Greig, GA: Alexa Collier, WA: Krystal Gayle, C : Helen Browne, WD: Bev Lovatt, GD: Kate Smith, GK: Kerry Almond.
Shooting Stats: Karen Greig 28/37 = 76%, Alexa Collier 3/6 = 50%, Charlotte Beenham 11/15 = 73% Celtic Dragons: GS: Chrissy Munro, GA: Cara-Lee Moseley, WA: Susie Drain, C: Steph Essex, WD: Sian Carrington, GD: Sara Hale, GK: Lindsay Keable.
Shooting Stats:Chrissy Munro = 73%, Cara-Lee Moseley = 68%