Following the promising performance against Surrey Storm last week, seen by coach Olivia Murphy as their best performance yet, Loughborough Lightning took to the court on Monday for their Co-Operative Superleague home fixture against Leeds Carnegie.

In front of the Sky cameras and a packed Sir David Wallace Sports hall, Lightning were keen to emulate the success of their younger counterparts, Lightning NTL, who had beaten NTL South in their earlier game. Despite a strong start, Leeds’ experience and physicality prevailed as Lightning lost 58-50.

Olivia Murphy named an unchanged side and the faith she put in her youngsters initially paid off, as Lightning made a bright start. In attack they looked decisive, with Michealla McFarlane and Katy Rose putting some superb balls into the circle.

In defence, both Layla Guscoth and Emma Bliss were vigilant, closing Leeds down well and forcing them into errors. Jo Harten again dominated the circle, as her and Alex Kirk only missed one shot between them in a close opening quarter, which finished with Lightning deservedly leading 15-14.

Leeds started the second quarter brightly, showing they wouldn’t go down without a fight. Lightning’s Layla Guscoth continued her fine form, making some key interceptions at goal keeper. The Leeds shooters, Carla Dzwoki and Jo Walker, showed good understanding and linked up well within the circle, converting much of their possession.

At the other end of the court, Afrika Morris was much tighter on Harten. Surrey had clearly realised they would need to keep the England shooter out of the game if they were to prevent Lightning extending the lead.

Harten continued to show her world class ability with 91% shooting accuracy for the second quarter in a row. Having lost the lead at the start of the quarter, Lightning pulled the score back to 30-30 and were unlucky to go in 31-30 down.

Half-time saw both coaches make changes, as Murphy brought on Sarah Jane O’Sullivan at centre for Katy Rose. Leeds changed around their defence, clearly in an attempt to stop the accuracy of the Lightning shooters, with Lauren Potter replacing Afrika Morris at goal keeper and Lisa Fernyhough coming on at wing defence.

Again Leeds started brightly, increasing their lead early on. Lightning had good periods of play, with O’Sullivan linking up well with McFarlane in the centre court and Harten shooting well, despite the physical nature of the Leeds defence forcing her to shoot from further out. Leeds’ dominance of possession limited Lightning’s opportunities, allowing the visitors to increase their lead at quarter time to 38-45.

After a disappointing third quarter in which Leeds had broken further away, Murphy realised she needed to change the Lightning attack to bridge the gap between the teams.

Reliable shooter Harten moved out to goal attack with Becky James coming on at goal shooter and Masego Moutang replaced the energetic McFarlane at wing attack. Both teams started the quarter well, each converting their own centre passes and producing end to end exciting netball.

Midway through the quarter, Lightning appeared to step up a gear as they found their rhythm and stunned Leeds with five unanswered goals. The gap was down to three at 46-49. The Leeds players looked to have lost their rhythm and the home crowd could sense it.

Lightning looked to have set up a tense final few minutes to the game, but the combination of a timely Leeds injury and a key interception by Leeds’ Potter, halted Loughborough’s momentum. Leeds found their feet once again and their goal attack, Carla Dziwoki, showed composure with three quick goals, re-establishing a gap too big for the home side to bridge.

Lightning kept battling, but Leeds’ experience shone through as another Dziwoki treble late on ensured they took the points, with the final score being 50-58 to Leeds Carnegie.

The game typified Lightning’s season as they demonstrated a hard working ethos and at times produced moments of brilliant team play, however as the game went on they lacked the experience and physicality that Leeds showed.

Coach Murphy conceded there was a drop in Lightning’s performance from the first to the second half.

“I was really pleased with the first half’s performance. However, in the second half we struggled to cope with the physical presence of the Leeds defence.”

Murphy also praised captain Jo Harten, who is off to represent England against Australia.

“Jo produced yet another brilliant performance today, typifying the form she has shown this season and will be missed when she is away with England. We wish her the best of luck.”

Lightning now have a slight break before their next home game, scheduled for the 20th March against Northern Thunder. For tickets or more information please visit www.loughboroughlightning.co.uk.