Thunder have cemented a place in play -offs but if they want to finish 3rd and take home advantage in play off 1 they can not afford to slip up and the way Wildcats have been playing this was a potential banana skin. Wildcats finished bottom of the Superleague last year but have been playing at a different level this time round. The first quarter in Bury was tightly contested, goal for goal. Glasgow went 4-1 ahead before being hauled back it was only at 9-all that Thunder were able steal a march and take the high-scoring quarter 19-13.
It continued to be hard work for both teams, Thunder playing a double header weekend showed little sign of fatigue having beaten Carnegie on Saturday to deny their rivals any extension to their season. Mike Greenwood’s side have been putting teams to the sword with relish in recent weeks, but could not afford to get cocky in this game.
Saying all that, the second quarter was decisive as Wildcats shooters could only twiddle their thumbs. Little ball came their way and they only had six attempts on goal Thunder returned 13 goals from 18 attempts. Anastascia Wilson came on for the second half and is already popular with the crowd, blind bounce passing here and there, collecting rebounds and contesting hard for possession - the crowd liked it.
At 50-24 with 15 to play the match was over, but Wildcats fought hard in the final quarter and were only three goals behind (17-14) for that period. Thunder move back into second place, with Team Bath playing Surrey Storm later in the afternoon.
Rachel Henry, Thunder’s wing-attack said it was a great team performance, “we kept the pressure on throughout each quarter, concentration and composure was great.”
Assistant coach Suzy Chapman was particulary happy with the result after a tough game the day before. She said “I was pleased with the mental and physical preparation which helped us to maintain our consistent performance.” “We have got some key priorities to take away for our next fixture which we need to put right but overall was great team work.”
Glasgow Wildcats, head coach Denise Holland said, “Thunder were stronger than ever with their new signing Anastascia Wilson proving too challenging for the Wildcats. However we still progressed to an increase in goals scored from the first round.”
Match Umpires
Kim Burns and Debbie King with Sarah Watts