Possession went back and forth, and the game became transitional. Thunder fought back and eventually took the lead in the game, with Lightning working hard to stay in the game through patient play around the attacking circle. Thunder came out the blocks quickly and put an immediate stamp on the quarter, forcing Lightning errors through the middle. An end-to-end quarter finished with great sustained defensive pressure from Alice Harvey, which provided a flying interception from Fran Williams to take Lighting into the first break leading 17-14.Įnd of Q1: Loughborough Lightning 17 – 14 Manchester Thunder The Thunder defence continued to make life difficult to Mary Cholhok to find and hold space under the post, making Lightning utilise the versatility and dynamism of Rhea Dixon to create space under the post. Thunder gave an immediate response through Lenize Potgieter who found good space under the post and converted nicely. Hannah Joseph was her usual combative self and found Rhea Dixon in space consistently to stretch Lightning lead.

Manchester Thunder got us underway with the first centre pass and immediately Lighting turned the ball over after a brilliant read from Jas Odeogberin. Aided by drums, and in front of a particularly raucous home crowd, the stage was set at the world’s best sporting university for this blockbuster clash. Having defeated last year’s champions 65-57 during the regular season, Lighting sort to further their title credentials with another dominant performance over their northern rivals and in doing so, book their place in the big dance on Sunday.

In a repeat of the 2022 Netball Super League final, Loughborough Lightning welcomed their old foes Manchester Thunder to the Sir David Wallace Arena for this showpiece semi-final between two giants of English netball.

Staff of thunder and lightning