Tornadoes and Hurricanes book final spots
18th May 2003by Siobhan Atkinson
The listing was posted by England Netball - SuperCup
Once again the two sides from London dominated the results at the second weekend of Super Cup 2003, played in Birmingham. Petchey London Tornadoes booked their place in the final with convincing wins over Birmingham University Blaze on Saturday 55- 36 and Northern Flames 55 - 31 on Sunday. London Hurricanes were made to work much harder to earn their place in the final for the first time after they beat Northern Thunder by one goal, shot by Abby Teare with only 30 seconds remaining on the clock to win 48 - 47. They followed this up on Sunday with a near escape with Team Bath matching them goal for goal until the whistle with the honours having to be shared at 35 goals a piece. Hurricanes team captain Abby Teare said
The fight it still on though to make it into the 3rd / 4th place play off. Team Bath have a chance to achieve this after defeating Northern Flames on Saturday 42 - 35. Geva Mentor posted two superb displays for Team Bath and demonstrated that she has come of age under the watchful eyes of England Coaches Lyn Gunson and Waimarama Taumaunu. Mentor spoke of her team's achievements in this competition saying
"I have really enjoyed the games and I am proud of what we have achieved. We showed determination in the game against Hurricanes, I just hope we can win again next weekend."Blaze ended the weekend on a good note defeating Northern Thunder who they lost to in the final in 2002 63 - 42. Having been heavily beaten on Saturday by Tornadoes, Blaze coach Colette Thomson referred to the match on Sunday as
"A do or die game." The whole team were delighted with the win, Captain Alex Astle said "We played with concentration and stuck to the game plan today." They have the chance to still be on the rostrum once again but they will need to beat Northern Flames next weekend to ensure they enter the 3rd / 4th place play off.It was a disappointing weekend for the side from the North East, Northern Flames. Both days they started well but failed to maintain the consistency over 60 minutes and create enough attempts on goal to be worthy of winning a game. Coach Denise Egan said
"It's disappointing that we have lost again but we are learning from our mistakes and thinking about what we do with the ball more so than at the start of this event. I have given every player a chance on the court now so I know what they can deliver."Northern Thunder saw their chances of defending the title they took in 2002 drastically reduced after they lost in the closing stages in their match against the London Hurricanes 47 - 48. Despite having six more attempts on goal than their opposition Thunder just couldn't make this count. On Sunday they once again lost and failed to pick up any extra points when they were downed by 21 goals by the Blaze. They led only once in the game early in the first quarter but Blaze quickly rallied and regained the lead, which they never again lost. Coach Mike Greenwood said
"We need our players to perform, we have a lot of changes to the side this year but we are making too many unforced errors which means we are losing games."The Super Cup enters its final weekend in Bath this Bank Holiday with the final pool matches being played on the Saturday and teams competing for their final position in games of the competition on Sunday. Excitement promises to be in the air at the conclusion of the event with the England selectors naming the trialists for the team to compete in the World Netball Championships to be held in July this year.
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