Manchester Thunder, Wasps and Severn Stars claim Superleague wins
Tuesday 18 April 2017 12:32, UK
Manchester Thunder edged out Sirens in an extra-time thriller in the Vitality Superleague, while Wasps and Severn Stars also picked up wins.
Easter Monday had kicked off with wins for Surrey and Loughborough and there were three more matches on Monday, all of which played out plenty of drama.
Wasps and Thunder picked up the wins that keep them in touching distance of Lightning, who extended their perfect start to 10 wins from their opening 10 games but both were made to work hard.
Thunder arrived in Glasgow in red-hot form after straight wins but they faced a Sirens side turning the Emirates Arena into a fortress on the back of three successive home wins.
And it was the Scottish franchise who started fast to open up a three-goal advantage midway through the first quarter, but Thunder hit back and missed the chance to level with the final shot of the first 15 minutes from Joyce Mvula.
The tone was set for an exciting match-up and once again it was the hosts who started the quarter strongest, Ellen Halpenny and Carla Borrego combined to great effect as Sirens maintained a steady six-goal lead until the closing stages.
Thunder rallied to go into the half-time interval trailing 32-30 but a blistering start to the second half re-established their lead, Borrego in particular looking like she could not miss and this time Gail Parata's team were able to hang on to their six-goal lead.
Trailing 49-43, Thunder roared out of the traps for the final quarter, closing the gap to just one goal when a red-hot Turner finished from under the post and the teams then traded intercepts and goals before an epic contest ended 58-all.
Thunder grabbed the early initiative in extra-time, Mvula putting her frustrations behind her to open up the advantage which they were able to maintain despite a brave effort from Sirens, who will feel hard done by.
Having coped admirably with the injuries that have hit their squad, Halpenny going off in the final quarter proved a crucial factor after Rachel Forbes and Lauren Tait had earlier in the day been confirmed as missing for the rest of the season.
Next up for Thunder is a trip to the leaders, the two clash next Saturday in Loughborough on the back of 18 victories between them with Thunder beaten since week two and Lightning perfect at the top of the standings.
At the Hertfordshire University Sports Village, Wasps secured a fourth consecutive win seeing off their hosts, the Hertfordshire Mavericks, with a 51-58 victory.
Victory for Tamsin Greenway's side means they rise to second in the table in their debut season and alongside Thunder six points behind the leaders.
Wasps began to pull away from Mavericks in the second quarter with Rachel Dunn key to an 11-goal advantage
Despite a valiant attempt from a youthful Mavericks side, who had an in-form Vicklyn Joseph keeping them within touching distance, Wasps maintained the winning margin much to the delight of Greenway.
"It was a good win today, very satisfying and I was really pleased with how the players came through a tough start to win," said Greenway.
"Mavericks never let up, we knew they'd be gunning for us at home and that's exactly what they did.
"Although the scoreline wasn't huge, it still felt quite comfortable with the way we were playing - we were doing some brilliant stuff out there and played some very smart netball against a quality young team."
And there was a third victory of the season for Severn Stars, who beat the Celtic Dragons 59-50 in Cardiff.
The Vitality Superleague continues on Sky Sports Mix next Monday from 7.15pm when Severn Stars host Surrey Storm
