Share Loughborough Lightning added another six points to their tally over the weekend, with back-to-back victories over Celtic Dragons and Leeds Rhinos, in rounds 17 and 18 of the Vitality Netball Superleague (VNSL) Returning to the Copper Box Arena for their final double header weekend of the season and having already confirmed their spot in the semi-finals, Lightning looked to use the weekend as an opportunity to bring injured players back into the side and to test out crucial combinations ahead of a tough end of season run. Facing Celtic Dragons on the Saturday and Leeds Rhinos on the Sunday, Lightning faced two very different challenges ahead of them. Securing the highest result of the season so far, the last time Lightning came up against Dragons, Head Coach Francis Bayman saw the opening match of the weekend as the chance to give her squad vital minutes, whilst allowing opportunity to rest before the charge on Sunday. Leeds Rhinos posed an alternative threat, however. With everything to play for, Rhinos came into the clash with momentum behind them and a full-strength squad, eager to add points to the table and inch them closer to a spot in the semi-finals. Saturday’s clash saw a differing line-up to normal, with Francis-Bayman opting for Odeogberin at goal defence and giving Lightning stalwart Hannah Joseph a starting spot on her first match back from injury. A fearsome opening quarter saw Lightning dominate, creating a whopping 21-4 lead after just twelve minutes. Receiving her call up to the squad just days before the match, youngster Jess Haynes earned her debut with Lightning in the second half, becoming the 102nd player to wear the purple dress. With the space to play out combinations, Francis-Bayman used the remainder of the match to rotate her bench, rest players ahead of the second match and comfortably seal her eighth victory in a row. With speed and silent determination, Loughborough University young gun, Suzie Liverseidge earned herself another Computacenter player of the match award for her performance; “We just wanted to take each quarter and prepare as well as we could going into the end of the season. We wanted it to be a solid performance. No game is a given in this league, so we just need to focus on each game at a time. We are confident we can go the whole way, but we know we just need to work hard, prepare well and take each game as it comes.” Computacenter Player of the Match: Suzie Liverseidge (Loughborough Lightning). Match report provided by Loughborough Lightning. Share Tags: Loughborough Lightning Cardiff Dragons