Lightening's Bright Ending

It was not enough to move them much higher in the Co-operative Netball  Superleague table but Loughborough Lightning banked another win in  their much delayed end of season game. They beat Glasgow Wildcats  49-37 in front of a home crowd at the University.

The season has been a tough one for the team, just three wins from  the 16 games means they finish the year second bottom of the pile but  mixed in with the hard times have been some good and unexpected results.

Coach Olivia Murphy will have positives to consider in her  end of year review.

Wildcats, awarded a point for the “no-result” against TeamBath who were unable to travel for the fixture after the volcanic ash cloud  covered the country, have had a better season.

It was part of their  coach Denise Holland’s plans to claw up the table in the development  of the team. They have been rewarded with their best Superleague finish to date.

This game will not go down as a classic but Loughborough, without  captain Jo Harten for the first time this term dug deep to cut their  error count and earn the points on the night.

Their prolific shooter  was on the bench but played no part after picking up a rib injury.

Denise Holland, though it was “a challenging match to finish the  season.” She added “Both sides made numerous errors but Loughborough  finished the strongest.”

Olivia Murphy, who is in charge of Loughborough Lightning admitted  being pleased to finish the season on a high with a victory

“The difference today was the choices the girls made with the ball  under pressure and the work they did off the ball to create space.

Glasgow Wildcats slip a place in the final standings behind their  rivals Celtic Dragons but seventh nonetheless above the talents of  Loughborough and the Superleague’s Wooden Spoon winners Team Northumbria who sink down on the weight of their lesser goal average.

By Lisa O’Sullivan