Storm squeeze past Dragons

Dragons have just one win to their name so far this season but pushed a Storm side who sealed a top four spot last week all the way at the House of Sport in Cardiff.

An end-to-end battle saw neither side able to pull away, and with the score tied with just seconds remaining, England Rose Drakeford-Lewis kept her cool to sink the winning shot.

Dragons came onto the court strong and managed to get an early two goal lead but Storm kept coming back and tying to swing the momentum of the match.

Both defensive pairings worked well with each other and gained a lot of ball for their team in the first quarter and throughout the match.

WHAT A THRILLER! 😮‍💨

Storm take the game in the final seconds after a non stop battle with @celticdragons_ 👏 #NSL2023 pic.twitter.com/pBQCh4t0JT

— Bartercard Surrey Storm (@SurreyStorm) May 12, 2023

Dragons started the second quarter with a flurry of goals which saw the home side go five goals ahead. Captain Clare Jones had a big impact and quietened Surrey Storm’s captain Yasmin Brookes which forced Storm to mix things up and bring Sophia Candappa on to court.

After letting Candappa settle into the game, Storm decided to make another change in their attacking end, bringing Sienna Rushton on to goal shooter for Frankie Wells.

The new shooting pairing of Rushton and Drakeford-Lewis had a positive impact on the game for Storm as they scored three goals before half time to get the scores back to within two again.

After their half-time talks, Storm came back on to the court strongly as they levelled the scores early in quarter three, and continue to capitalise on the momentum shift to gain a four-goal advantage.

With Dragons hungry for a win, they stopped Storm’s momentum and fought back to get to that magic score-line of two goals back again.

Dragons defence continued to impact the game with tips aplenty coming for Shaquanda Greene-Noel and Ella Powell-Davies, but Storm managed to keep possession of the ball and swap the scores so they lead by two goals going into the final quarter.

Dragons brought Annabel Roddy into goal defence to start the final quarter with Powell-Davies moving into wing defence to give Storm something to think about.

Both teams scored off their own centre passes for the first half of the first quarter until Hannah Leighton grabbed an important interception which drew Dragons back to one-goal with their centre pass to follow.

With Amy Flanagan getting a warning from James Thomas, Felisitus Kwangwa took to court to replace her at the wing defence position.

Gabby Sinclair wins another Player of the Match Award 🏅

As always, vote for your Green Army Player of the Match in our Instagram Stories 📲 pic.twitter.com/IiajvCJKIr

— Celtic Dragons (@celticdragons_) May 12, 2023

Dragons scored off their next centre pass, levelling the game which made the noise from the Green Army the loudest it had been that game.

Similarly to Storm, Powell-Davies getting a warning saw Ally Housley enter the court at wing defence.

The lead swung back and forth, but with seconds to go and the centre pass favouring Storm, they took the last of the game. Storm got the ball to England star Drakeford-Lewis under the post who slotted the final goal of the match to seal the win for her team.

Gabby Sinclair was named Player of the Match once again for her team as she had another standout performance.

Report supplied by Celtic Dragons

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