Netball Super League | Thunder ready for Northumbria challenge

Manchester Thunder head back on the road to play Team Northumbria in front of the Sky Sports cameras in round five of the Superleague.

The Black and Yellows travel to the North East with back to back wins and will hope to make it a hat-trick on Monday night.

Even at this early stage in the season, Thunder find themselves nine points behind league leaders Loughborough Lightning in the table and will look to avoid dropping points – and further ground – in Newcastle.

This fixture is now the closest to a local northern derby for Thunder, following the loss of great ‘Rose Rivals;’ Yorkshire Jets, who were not awarded a Superleague franchise contract for this season.

Coach Karen Greig observed after her side’s tense victory over Celtic Dragons last time out that her team is looking to improve week on week.

She said: “Everything we do we look to build week in week out. It’s always good to have local rivalry with Northumbria so we’ll be looking to push on and build on our confidence and move forwards.”

New signing Bea Skingsley has proven a real success for Thunder so far this season and she earned her first Player of The Match award in the victory over Celtic Dragons at the Thunderdome.

The defender is relishing the contest with Northumbria, in front of the TV cameras.

She said: “I’m trying to focus on what I’ve been learning in training and bringing that to matches.

“I’ve enjoyed working with Emma (Dovey) and bringing the ball through court.

“We want to keep the winning run going and momentum is very important. We want to put out a consistent performance against Northumbria.”

The first centre pass is 7.45pm and the match will be shown live on Sky Sports 2 & Sky Sports Mix.

For the latest Manchester Thunder news – head to their official website.