Manchester Thunder beat Wasps in Vitality Superleague
Sunday 26 March 2017 15:33, UK
Manchester Thunder moved level on points with Wasps in the Vitality Superleague after a hugely impressive victory at the Ricoh Arena.
A dominant second-half display from Karen Greig's side saw them turn a five-goal half-time deficit into a 58-52 victory that means Thunder have now won each of their last four games.
A much-changed Thunder team had started the season with back-to-back defeats but they have hit their stride with their youngsters making a significant mark.
Wasps have now lost two of their last three games following three straight wins as a Superleague franchise and director of netball Tamsin Greenway admits there is work to do.
"We did not kick on and that has been the story of our season so far. We are doing some really good things against teams but not having that finishing touch is getting frustrating," she said.
"I struggle to understand why we can't be confident when we are in those front positions and are taking the game to people but that is something we are going to have to focus on."
With the match delayed, and Thunder hindered by a five-hour disruption on the M6, it was perhaps no surprise that the visitors were a touch slower out of the traps, but they did well to match the hosts and trailed by two after the opening 15 minutes.
Wasps continued to apply the pressure and, led by a dominant display from Bongiwe Msomi at centre, built a 32-27 lead by the interval, but Thunder are made of stern stuff and rallied superbly to win the third quarter 16-11 to set up a fourth-quarter shoot-out.
And it was the visitors who had the game's key performances as captain Emma Dovey led a fierce defence that set up a host of opportunities for Kathryn Turner and Joyce Mvula, who made little mistake under the posts.
By the end of the game, Thunder claimed a hugely impressive victory on the road and Greig was delighted with the display as well as the result.
"At the end of the third quarter when we were level I said that we have this and all we needed to do is squeeze the life out of them," said Greig.
"I asked the players to challenge for every ball and the girls did that. This win says a lot about what we can do this season. We have a young inexperienced squad and I don't think we get enough credit for what we do out there."
In Friday night's other match, Team Bath inflicted a sixth successive defeat on Team Northumbria, who remain rooted to the foot of the Superleague table.
Despite struggling for fluency in attack, Bath pulled away in the fourth quarter and Northumbria were left to rue a second sending-off inside a week for Jaydene Robinson.
A scrappy, physical encounter, with goals at a premium, meant Bath led 31-29 going into the final 15 minutes before eventually securing a fourth win of the season
Head Coach Anna Stembridge said: "People may look at the scoreline and think it was close but I thought we handled that match well. Credit to Team Northumbria for disrupting our play - that could have led us to becoming disconnected but we backed each other up well and came through it.
"We have had two good games against Loughborough Lightning and Surrey Storm here but not got the results, so that win was just reward for our home fans who were outstanding again tonight."
The curtain comes down on Week Six when Severn Stars hosts Sirens on Sky Sports Mix on Monday from 7.30pm
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