Thunder focus on ‘fun’ in win against Mavericks

Eleanor Cardwell said Manchester Thunder “concentrated on having fun” as they comfortably beat London Mavericks 69-59 in round two of the Netball Super League.

Both sides were targeting their first win of the season after losing their openers and Thunder made the most of home advantage at the Belle Vue Arena.

“I think we really concentrated on having fun,” said player of the match Cardwell. “I think we were a bit uptight last week against Pulse.

“You could see we were all enjoying it and playing with a bit more freedom.”

Thunder took control early on as they opened up a 19-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter and extended their lead to 35-25 at half-time.

They led 52-40 after the third quarter and kept the Mavericks at bay on the way to victory.

“We’re still not perfect,” said Thunder head coach Karen Greig. “I’m going to keep asking more and more of these girls but we definitely looked more connected out there.

On Saturday, Loughborough Lightning overcame a “tough” opening to beat Leeds Rhinos 70-43.

The win at Canon Medical Arena, in Sheffield, puts the visitors top of the early standings with six points from their opening games.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Lightning coach Vic Burgess, said: “I’m really happy with the scoreline, really pleased with the win today.

“It’s been great to see such a solid team performance. Everybody that took the court did exactly what we asked of them.”

From 24-23 behind, Lightning went on a scoring streak to lead 37-24 at the midway point and never looked back.

“The first quarter was tough, I’m really pleased with all of the girls’ performances,” Burgess said.

Lightning co-captain Nat Panagarry, a three-time title winner with the team, made her 200th appearance in the NSL.

Leading 42-33 at the end of the third quarter, Pulse extended their advantage to 11 part-way through the fourth.

But the Welsh side, who finished bottom of the revamped NSL last year after winning only two of their 14 games, exerted increasing pressure in the final six minutes, led by player of the match Jacqui Newton.

BBC Sport will show one game per week during the regular season.

These are the games you can watch live on the BBC Sport website and iPlayer:

7 March: Manchester Thunder 69-59 London Mavericks

15 March: Nottingham Forest v Leeds Rhinos (16:00 GMT)

22 March: London Pulse v Nottingham Forest (18:00 GMT)

28 March: Loughborough Lightning v Birmingham Panthers (18:30 GMT)

4 April: London Pulse v Birmingham Panthers (17:00 BST)

11 April: Dragons v Birmingham Panthers (16:00 BST)

18 April: Loughborough Lightning v London Mavericks (18:00 BST)