Competition Intensifies as figleaves.com Netball Superleague Progresses
11 February 2006by Rona Hunnisett
The listing was posted by Netball Super League
Competition at the top of the figlevaes.com Netball Superleague is becoming increasingly intense, with only three points separating the top three teams and only four rounds of competition remaining.
Loughborough Lightning moves into third place after a thrilling 39-38 victory over Mavericks, decided by a successful penalty shot by former international shooter Alex Astle, taken in the final three seconds of their game. With neither team able to assert its dominance over the other throughout the match, the sell-out crowd at Loughborough University were treated to a thrilling end to end game, with England captain Olivia Murphy showing particularly impressive form in controlling the Loughborough centre court.
However, TeamBath remains in front, after a clinical 67-34 victory against Team Northumbria. TeamBath coach Jan Crabtree chose to give a starting place to England U21 international Asha Tett at GA, and she combined well with Tamsin Greenway at WA and Jo Binns at C to drive the ball into GS Rachel Dunn. For Team Northumbria, Northern Ireland's Noleen Lennon at GS found Bath's Geva Mentor a tough opponent, which affected her shooting percentages, and despite some determined work by Northumbria's Melissa Storey, Vicky Burgess and Kelly Martin in centre court, the west country side were too strong.
In front of another packed house, Northern Thunder eventually overcame a
spirited challenge from Celtic Dragons. The Welsh representative side came out strongly, belying their position at the foot of the table, and the scores were tied 20 goals apiece at half time. However, in the second half, Northern Thunder's speed and accuracy increased, and Dragons were found wanting. Thunder took the game 44-38 and move into fifth position in the league.
In the final fixture of the day, Brunel Hurricanes beat Leeds Met Carnegie 50-33 to remain in second place, only one point behind Team Bath. Leeds Met started brightly, trailing only 15-10 at the first interval, after some solid attacking work by Debbie Percy, Vicky Phillips and Amanda Evans. However, England defender Sonia Mkoloma was once again her team's inspiration, shutting down numerous Leeds attacks to leave the first half 32-18 in Brunel's favour. In front of another packed crowd at Leeds Met University, the home team rallied in the second half, but by this stage Teare and Leutton were on song in the shooting circle for Brunel, and the result was beyond the reach of Leeds.
The next round of matches in the figleaves.com Netball Superleague takes place on 24 February 2006 - for game details and further information, visit the events section of the website.