Sunshine Girls defender Shamera Sterling played the entire match as Loughborough Lightning battled to a 62-56 win on the road against Manchester Thunder on Monday in round 11 of the Vitality Netball Super League.

This to move to second on the table on 24 points from 11 games – 6 behind top of the table Wasps Netball who have a game in hand.

A fiery start to the match saw Lightning snatch a turnover, stealing Thunders first centre pass. Focusing back on their own centre, the visitors were quickly two points up. Leaving little time to ponder, Thunder regained composure and retaliated, evening the scores.

Sterling was next to steal a rebound, giving Lightning the opportunity to push ahead once again, but not before long as Thunder’s defence began to pile on the pressure in Lightning’s circle. The quarter went on with each side claiming their centre passes before the visitors’ efforts were finally rewarded pushing them ahead by two. This momentum gain was all they needed to kick start the night, the quarter ending with a well fought three point lead.

Quarter 1: Loughborough Lightning 15 – 12 Manchester Thunder

Half-time: Loughborough Lightning 33 – 26 Manchester Thunder

Quarter 3: Loughborough Lightning 49 – 39 Manchester Thunder

Final score: Loughborough Lightning 62 – 56 Manchester Thunder

The Lightning, who are on a 4-game win streak since the Commonwealth Games break, return to centre-court against the Celtic Dragons in Cardiff on May 14.

Action yesterday also saw elsewhere the UWS Sirens (that featured Vanessa Walker, Nicole Aiken-Pinnock and Shantel Slater) suffering a 47-42 loss to Team Northumbria.