Celtic Dragons’ home fixture against Northern Thunder in the Co-operative Netball Superleague was a bit one sided. The TV match this week shows how one side is really firing on all cylinders and pushing hard for a big finish to the season.

Thunder are being tipped by many of the movers and shakers in the top-flight to go all the way to this season’s grand final and on this performance it would be hard to bet against them. This was a clinical execution from the first whistle.

Dragons have been enjoying a renewed purpose in recent games, turning in good enough netball to place them seventh in the league table. Head Coach Melissa Hyndman is now firmly in charge at the business end of the season and will be looking to press on with the confident play of previous weeks.

It was a tall order for the Welsh side to match Thunder who had built a six goal lead by the end of the first quarter with the speedy movement of the ball down the court. The team was working like a well-oiled machine with Emma Dovey and Karen Almond denying Dragons’ shooters possession.

The second quarter saw Thunder outscore the home-side two to one and go 29-16 in front, by the third quarter saw the visitors hit top gear and in this fifteen minutes they landed three times as many shots as Dragons. It is a match worth watching and can be seen on Thursday, 11th March, 2010 on Sky Sports 4 at 1800.

The last 15 minutes saw Celtic Dragons produce some of their best netball of the night but were still second best as Thunder tried some changes. Emma Dovey came off but not before being named the Co-operative Player of the Match which she admitted was a thrill.

“We took out time getting started but stepped up in the second and third quarters. I was another great win.”

By Lisa O'Sullivan

Match Umpires

Jo Kelly and Judith Groves with Janice Treasure