Storm win clash of the titans
11 February 2010
Surrey Storm defeated reigning champions Team Bath tonight in one of the greatest games Superleague netball has ever seen.
Captain Sonia Mkoloma led Storm out to a raucous full house at Guildford Spectrum who shouted and cheered Storm on to a 43-40 win.
It was a match of the highest skill level with both sides showing a dazzling array of speed, power, strength and finesse that only England’s finest athletes could deliver and from the very start it was the battle of all battles.
The game had it all; amazing defence, breathtaking moves throughout the court and top class shooting. The pressure both sides pressed on each other required attacking play of the highest order and that is exactly what both sides delivered.
Storm made the early running and pipped Bath after the first quarter 12-10. Sonia and Geva were once again awesome in defence putting pressure on the Bath shooters and Storm managed to eek out an early lead.
For much of the match Bath spent chasing although it was very tight. The away team managed to pull it back in the second quarter with some impressive neat play between Corbin, Cookey and Tett. Bath scored 4 goals on a row to go 14-12 in front but Storm re focused and that was the only spell in the game the reigning champions led. Some amazing intercepts from Sonia and Geva helped Storm turn the game around and the whole squad worked tirelessly egged on by the noisy Storm crowd to up the anti. Dunn and Hall worked tirelessly in the circle, with Dunn slam-dunking an amazing save through the net as she fell off court, which sent the crowd wild.
The Greenway and Guthrie battle was enthralling and both players never let up, Guthrie was flying around for everything but Greenway kept her cool and was once again a crucial cog in the Storm attacking wheel.
The 3rd quarter was so close to call and finished with both teams haven scored 9 goals each.
The 4th quarter started with the same level of intensity as the 1st with every player fighting for every ball. Bath did everything to get back in to the game and the standard of netball was sublime. Storm’s Dunn only missed one shot in the final quarter and was once again awesome under the net. It was undoubtedly the experience and self-belief of the Storm squad which saw them through and Storm showed determination and skill to seal the 43-40 win keeping them top of the Co-operative Netball Superleague. The crowd played their part too, screams of Storm, Storm, Storm ringing around the Spectrum spurred on the team, a factor vice captain Tamsin Greenway said was crucial; “The crowd were amazing tonight, they really got behind us, it was so noisy they really helped when it mattered”.
Ex Bath player Tamsin was thrilled that Storm managed to take the win; “It was a great game to watch and play and could have gone either way. I am so pleased with the way we grafted right to the end and there were some great individual bits of skill”. Finally she added; “I think we showed that extra experience tonight and we showed amazing self belief in ourselves, that was key”.
