A third quarter netball masterclass from Surrey Storm ensured that they completed a hat-trick of home wins on Saturday night, with a 62-40 victory over Celtic Dragons in the 2016 Vitality Netball Superleague.
The Welsh outfit were no match for Storm in Q3, despite putting their hosts to the test for brief spells of the sell-out game at Surrey Sports Park.
An unchanged starting 7 was named once again by the Surrey coaches, opting for a strong line-up against one of the league’s winless sides, but a poor start by Storm hinted at a closer tie than initially anticipated by most. Dragons twice took a two goal lead in the opening exchanges, before the Surrey attacking force of Sophia Candappa, Georgia Lees, Pamela Cookey and Rachel Dunn were let loose to create a 14-11 lead at the first break.
Q2 started in much the same fashion as the first. Dragons opened with a 1-4 run before normal service was quickly restored as Dunn handed Storm their biggest lead of the game at the half time mark, leading 27-22 after a shaky pair of quarters.
Amy Flanagan (WD) and Josie Huckle (GK) hit the court for Q3, seeing Reid move to GD, and it was at the point that Storm really turned on the magic. An almost immediate turnover extended the lead to 30-23 before another effortless attempt on goal from ex-England international Cookey put Storm 40-28 ahead. Fluid attacking continued, with both Huckle and Reid working hard to close out Dragon’s attacking at the opposite end to complete a 19-6 quarter, leaving Storm with a comfortable 46-28 lead for the final quarter.
Mikki Austin (C), Yasmin Parsons (WA) and Kat Hayes (GA) brought fresh legs to the court for the final quarter, continuing the cruising performance as Storm closed out their third home win in as many weeks and defeat Celtic Dragons 62-40.
The results sees Storm stay 3rd in the Vitality Netball Superleague table, with both Manchester Thunder and Hertfordshire Mavericks maintaining their 100% records in round 4.
Storm hit the road in round 5 next Saturday (27th) to take on Loughborough Lightning, before a trip to rivals Manchester Thunder live on Sky Sports in round 6 the following Monday (29th).
BRD Events Player of the Match – Pamela Cookey
Storm starting 7:
GK – Reid
GD – Holland
WD – Ainsworth
C – Candappa
WA – Lees
GA – Cookey
GS – Dunn
Changes: Flanagan to WD, Huckle to GK, Reid to GD (Q3), Austin to C, Parsons to WA, Hayes to GA (Q4)
Dragons starting 7:
GK – Morgan
GD – Oatley
WD – Drane
C – Jones
WA – Dyke
GA – Rusivakula
GS – Rowe
Changes for Dragons: Kahatoka to GK, Morgan to GD, Oatley to WD, Thomas to GA (Q3), Rusivakula to GA, Steingass to WD (Q4)
Storm shooting stats:
Dunn – 48/58, 83%
Cookey – 10/12, 83%
Hayes – 4/6, 67%
Team – 62/76, 82%
Dragons shooting stats:
Rowe – 22/26, 85%
Rusivakula – 15/18, 83%
Thomas – 3/3, 100%
Team – 40/47, 85%
Quarter scores:
Q1 – 14 – 11
Q2 – 27 – 22 (13 – 11)
Q3 – 46 – 28 (19 – 6)
Q4 – 62 – 40 (16 – 12)
Patient defending pays off as @haitchare steals. @rach_dunn finishes and Storm lead 24-19 #StormLive pic.twitter.com/znfO4sN7nU
— Surrey Storm (@SurreyStorm) February 20, 2016
Cool and calm @PamelaCookey bags another for Storm. Lead up to 12 goals at 40-28 #StormLive @NetballSL pic.twitter.com/d00hhG0tUb
— Surrey Storm (@SurreyStorm) February 20, 2016
@SurreyStorm v @celtic_dragons @England_Netball @SkyNetball @SurreyAdSpills @NetballSL @coco5uk @getsurrey pic.twitter.com/YhveUqdI9e
— Steve Porter (@6908jet) February 20, 2016
@SurreyStorm v @celtic_dragons @England_Netball @SkyNetball @SurreyAdSpills @NetballSL @coco5uk @getsurrey pic.twitter.com/vsDdaAChWo
— Steve Porter (@6908jet) February 20, 2016
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