T&T senior women’s team netball goal-shooter Samantha Wallace-Joseph was unstoppable as she scored a combined 60 goals to lead three-time champions Loughborough Lightning to a dominant 77-57 over Nottingham Forest during the Soft & Gentle minor semifinal in the England Netball Super League at the National Cycling Centre at the Co-op Live Arena in London on Saturday.
Having lost three of their final four matches after a ten-straight-win start to the season, which saw them ultimately finish third, coach Vic Burgess and Loughborough Lightning were out to end their slump. They did just that, jumping out to a commanding 21-13 lead in the first quarter.
However, the Chelsea Pitman-coached Forest side, who split their regular-season meetings with Lightning, had the better of the exchanges in the second quarter. They won the 15-minute period 15-14 to cut the deficit to seven goals at the half-time interval, trailing 35-28.
Following a half-time pep talk from Burgess, Wallace-Joseph and the Lightning returned for the third quarter as a rejuvenated group. They seized total command of the contest by doubling up on Forest 21-10, pushing their lead to 56-38. Lightning then edged the final quarter 21-19 to seal the comfortable 77-57 victory. With the win, they secured a spot in the preliminary final against the losers of the major semifinal between AO Manchester Thunder and London Pulse, ahead of the Soft & Gentle Grand Final on June 20.
The Toco-born Wallace-Joseph’s tally consisted of a perfect 38 goals from 38 standard attempts, alongside 11 of 15 Amex Super Shots (two goals per shot). Goal-attack Berri Neil added 11 goals from 13 attempts, including two perfect super shots from as many attempts, while Ella Clark chipped in with two goals from as many attempts.
On the opposite side of the court, South African Rolene Streutker was limited to 19 goals from 23 standard attempts and nine of 14 super shots for a combined score of 37 goals. Anya Williams added five goals from five attempts and three super shots from nine attempts, while Rhea Dixon chipped in with nine goals from 16 attempts.
During the regular season, the 32-year-old Wallace-Joseph featured in 13 matches and scored a league-best total of 560 goals at an 88 per cent shooting accuracy, highlighted by 436 goals from 465 standard attempts at 94 per cent shooting accuracy and 124 Amex Super Shots from 172 attempts at 72 per cent accuracy, all tournament highs. She will once again be the focal point of her team’s attack, supported by a cast led by Clark (188 goals) and Neil (80 goals).
Streutker was second on the league’s scoring charts with 520 goals, including 411 goals from 445 standard attempts and 109 super shots from 154 attempts. For Forest, Williams added 137 goals and Dixon contributed 48.
