Surrey Storm’s made the perfect start to the Next Generation Superleague this afternoon with two wins out of two at Surrey Sports Park.
Coach Lesley Tischler’s side swept past both Loughborough Lightning and Hertfordshire Mavericks on the home court, meaning they go into round 2 with an unbeaten record.#
Surrey Storm 50-31 Loughborough Lightning
Storm starting 7: GK- Quashie, GD- Williams, WD- Flanagan, C- Parsons, WA- Lees, GA- Dixon, GS- Harris
It didn’t take the hosts long to gain a strong advantage over Loughborough with Fran Williams, fresh from picking up the U21 European Championships title with England last weekend, picking up an early rebound for Katie Harris to score. Lightning did find their feet late on in the quarter to pull back from a 4 goal deficit, but Storm led by a single goal at the break.
Rhea Dixon made sure that Storm came out in a commanding fashion in Q2, taking a fine interception on the edge of the circle for Harris to finish, but Loughborough quickly switched on to stop the hosts from taking a too bigger lead. Storm held off the charge and led 23-19 at half time.
Olivia Leach and Olivia Emanus arrived on court in Q3 for the first time in the game with both made an immediate impact. The two sides cancelled out each other’s chances early on until Emanus pull off a fine interception for Storm to drive down court with fluidity and score, before Leach put on in on the buzzer to extend Surrey’s lead to 6 at the end of the period (31-25).
From then on Storm took every ball in their stride. With three strong quarters under their belts confidence was high. Mid-way into the quarter Surrey has scored 10 goals to just 6 for their opposition, as Harris and Leach gelled into a fine shooting partnership. Emily Gulvin, who came on for the final quarter, found Leach from a footwork call at the end of the game and it was Storm who opened the tournament with a superb 50-31 victory.
Hertfordshire Mavericks 38-46 Surrey Storm
Storm starting 7: GK- Quashie, GD- Williams, WD- Flanagan, C- Parsons, WA- Lees, GA- Dixon, GS- Harris
An identical starting 7 made another strong opening to the clash with Mavericks, continuing their effortless flow of attacking the goal. Both Harris and Dixon netted early to give Storm a 0-4 lead, with the former scoring right on the whistle to give her side an 8-13 lead after the first quarter.
Mavericks did their best to creep back into the game with a more controlled 2nd quarter, pulling the defecit back to just 3 goals at one point. But a characteristic flying interception from Amy Flanagan allowed Harris to score late and give Storm the 17-24 lead at half time.
Leach and Emanus both returned to court for the 3rd period, but Surrey were not phased by the changes. 4 quick goals followed as Lees and Parsons both worked the ball hard around the edge of the circle to find the shooters. Mavericks put together a 6-0 run as answer, until Williams pulled out a superb interception to stop Hertfordshire’s momentum. Two goals in the final 10 seconds gave Storm an 8 goal lead at the end of the quarter (27-35), just needing to close out their opponents in the final 12 minutes to take the win.
Quashie return to the court for Q4 to add fresh legs to the defence, which worked wonders in stopping Mavericks from finishing too many opportunities on goal as the hosts competed their 2nd win of the afternoon, overcoming their London rivals 38-46.
The other game held at Surrey Sports Park saw Mavericks defeat Lightning 40-45 in a thrilling game which nearly saw a driving comeback from Loughborough.
The Next Generation Superleague returns on Saturday 24th October when all six teams taking part travel to the Loughborough Netball Centre. Storm will both Team Northumbria and Yorkshire Jets in a bumper afternoon of netball.
Next Generation Superleague Round 1 Results
Surrey Storm 50-31 Loughborough Lightning
Loughborough Lightning 40-45 Hertfordshire Mavericks
Hertfordshire Mavericks 38-46 Surrey Storm
Team Northumbria 25-42 Yorkshire Jets
Yorkshire Jets 35-41 Manchester Thunder
Manchester Thunder 54-24 Team Northumbria
Next Generation Superleague Table
1. Manchester Thunder – 6pts
2. Surrey Storm – 6pts
3. Yorkshire Jets – 3pts
4. Hertfordshire Mavericks – 3pts
5. Loughborough Lightning – 0pts
6. Team Northumbria – 0pts
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