Surrey Storm sink Leeds Carnegie
19 January 2010
Surrey Storm continued their unbeaten record in the Co-operative Netball Superleague defeating Leeds Carnegie in their opening home match of the season.
The Storm crowd were treated to plenty of entertainment, as the lights went out Storm entered the arena under an array of spotlights and were introduced by the voiceover legend Peter Dickson who is the voice of the X Factor. And the X factor is exactly what the Storm fans got. The new urban dance troop Surrey Storm Troopers wowed the crowd whilst the Storm players made all the right noises on the court with a powerful and dominant performance to win 64-29.
Head Coach Mary Beardwood took the opportunity to swap different combinations and Storm never looked troubled despite a battling Leeds performance.
England and Storm sharp shooter Rachel Dunn had another impressive game under the post with an 83% shooting percentage and Michelle Hall who entered the match at half time at goal attack didn’t miss one shot scoring a 100% shooting percentage in the second half.
The win sees Storm keep their place at the top of the table, Coach Mary Beardwood stated; “After the first quarter where we were a little inconsistent we had three tremendous quarters and were fortunately able to play several combinations, overall it was a good score which keeps us top of the league where of course we want to stay”.
Vice Captain Tamsin Greenway added; “It was a great start for our home crowd. We built and got more confident as the game went on and it was great to make changes and have different combinations which were really successful”.
It wasn’t just the match the players thoroughly enjoyed either, Tamsin added; “The atmosphere was brilliant, the dancers and the intro were great and the win keeps us top of the table and looking forward to the next two clashes with the top teams in the league.
Those clashes will see Storm take on Hertfordshire Mavericks (this fixture has now been re arranged) on Monday 25th January at 8pm (also a Sky Sports match) and Team Bath on Friday 29th January.
Happy Birthday to Storm captain Sonia Mkoloma for tomorrow, Sonia received a card and a birthday cake after the match today and everyone at Storm wishes our captain a very happy day.
Team Line-ups
Surrey Storm
GS Rachel Dunn, GA Tamsin Greenway, WA Natasha Hampshire, C Becky Nash, WD Jaime Galley, GD Sonia Mkoloma (Capt), GK Geva Mentor.
Subs: Rhianne McHale, Michelle Hall, Gemma Wiseman, Chrissy Fitzgerald, Hannah Reid.
Changes: 3rd Q: Michelle Hall to GA, Tamsin Greenway to WA.
4th Q: Geva Mentor to GD, Sonia Mkoloma to GK, Hannah Reid to WD.
Leeds Carnegie
GS Joanne Walker, GA Carla Dziwoki, WA Natalie Haythornthwaite, C Natalie Panagarry, WD Danielle Bloomfield, GD Joanne Davis (Capt), GK Afrika Morris
Subs: Rachel Beale, Chantelle Hankin, Lisa Ferneyhough, Rachel Shaw, Lauren Potter.
Changes: 2nd Q: Rachel Beale to GK
3rd Q: Afrika Morris to GK, Lauren Potter to WD
4th Q: Rachel Shaw to GS
Shooting Statistics
Surrey Storm
Rachel Dunn 54/65 83%
Tamsin Greenway 2/10 20%
Michelle Hall 8/8 100%
Leeds Carnegie
Joanne Walker 10/15 67%
Rachel Shaw 1/3 33%
Carla Dziwoki 18/23 78%
