Netball Superleague: Manchester Thunder 51-32 Team Bath

In a physical battle Manchester Thunder won their second match of the Netball Superleague season beating Team Bath 51-32 at the Thunderdome on Saturday.

Thunder, buoyed by their opening win of the season against Surrey Storm, and Bath, who secured a good win of their own against Team Northumbria, were expected to contest a much closer game.

The first quarter was a slow burner with early pressure from Thunder Goal Keeper Kerry Almond forcing a turnover that separated the sides in the opening exchanges.

Then a feisty passage of play set the tone for the rest of the match, with possession changing hands in a frenetic five-minute period .

Bath's England defender Stacey Francis had a a real task on her hands as she tried to contain an on-fire Aussie Wing Attack Chelsea Pitman who was burning her way through the court. By the end of the first quarter only a goal separated the sides at 11-10.

Tempo

But Thunder had lulled their opposition into a false sense of security, and they upped the tempo to power into a five-goal lead at the start of the second.

Tracey Neville's side were slick in attack and that was epitomised by Sara Bayman and Pitman trading long bullet feeds to the shooters throughout.

Bath failed to score in the opening eight minutes of the quarter and their frustration led to a collision between Francis and teammate Mia Ritchie, while Thunder were brutal in punishing their opposition's errors.

Bath coach Jess Thirlby shuffled her pack in an attempt to stop the rot – and Thunder's dominance – but they simply had no answer to the home team's fluid attack.

Bath lost the second quarter 14-4 but a late surge from the Somerset-based side helped them end the quarter positively, following an energy-sapping defensive display from their opposition.

Purpose

The visitors started the second half with more purpose, pouncing on a sloppy pass to Krista Enziano and moving the ball through the court more confidently to get to within 10 of the league's defending champions.

Thirlby's changes were starting to work and the game became more open midway through the third.

With Thunder 14 goals ahead, Neville brought on Ellie Cardwell at Goal Attack and Helen Housby shifted to Goal Shooter, with player of the match Enziano shifting to the bench.

Bayman traded places with England team-mate Laura Malcolm coming on at centre. The captain had played an instrumental part in her side's now unassailable lead.

Thunder's squad strength was evident with the fresh players continuing their overall control and rhythm. The Gorton-based outfit sent out a clear message to the rest of the Superleague that they will not be surrendering their title without a fight.

After the match, Enziano, who had impressive shooting accuracy of 96 per cent, said: “It was a really solid performance. Everything we had been working on in training showed on court.

“We had a slow first quarter but we blew them out out of the water in the second.

“I felt good, after the first few long shots went in I felt confident and I am so pleased I got player of the match.”

Watch Manchester Thunder live with Sky Tickets head http://tickets.sky.com/Netball/Manchester-Thunder for more information.

You can watch Monday's Superleague clash between Team Bath and Surrey Storm on Sky Sports 2, starting at 7.30pm.

Sky Sports will show live action from all 14 rounds of the Netball Superleague as part of the channel’s biggest ever year of women’s sport.