Loughborough Lightning defeated Sale Sharks for a third time this season to open a ten-point lead in their two-legged Allianz Cup fifth place play-off.
Wearing their alternative Black, Green and Gold shirts, Lightning went in at half time at Heywood Road five points up thanks to an early penalty from Lia Green and a converted Cath O’Donnell try, with Sale’s solitary score coming through fly-half Lizzie Duffy.
Lightning pulled clear after the break as Lucia Linn and debutant Lucy Calladine both crossed the line before Jess Panayiotou struck against her former club to narrow the gap heading into the second leg at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday 27 April.
FIRST HALF
Lightning started the better of the two teams and were rewarded after eight minutes played, as full-back Green slotted a penalty from in front of the posts to nudge Lightning ahead.
Despite a slow start it was Sale with the first try of the match. Prop Detysha Harper made good ground deep into the Loughborough half, and when the ball was recycled wide, Duffy stepped and scored. She couldn’t convert her own try, but Sale were ahead.
The home side began to build from their first try and were close to a second as Evie Tonkin dropped the ball with the line in her sights. Lightning prop Amelia Williams had been shown a yellow card in the phases prior to that near miss having not retreated after a quickly tapped penalty from the hosts.
With five minutes to play in the half, Lightning almost had their first try of the game. Carmela Morrall, who scored twice the last time the sides met at Heywood Road in December, initially intercepted a looping Sale pass to gain her side possession. And when the ball was recycled, great inter-play from Sara Svoboda and Linn put the latter through a gap but the centre was pulled down just metres short of the line.
Lightning had earned themselves a penalty in that play though and chose to tap from five metres out. The forwards knocked on the door for multiple phases before England international O’Donnell found the extra metre for the try. Green added the conversion to see her side back ahead by five points going into the break
SECOND HALF
Lightning continued where they left off at the beginning of the second half as they increased their lead. Morrall broke from the half-way line and made it up to the 22 before passing outside to Linn who evaded a Sale defender to score. Green added the conversion.
With 15 minutes to play, Nathan Smith’s side extended their lead further. Sale had been penalised for a high tackle, Green kicked to the corner. From the five-metre metre lineout, Sale couldn’t cope with the power of Lightning’s maul as they crashed over the line and hooker Calladine applied the final touches.
The hosts wouldn’t lie down though and were rewarded for their efforts with a try five minutes from time. Sale had been mounting the pressure on the Lightning line for a sustained period of time and finally found that extra metre as replacement prop Panayiotou powered over.
It means Lightning head into the second leg in two weeks’ time ten points up on aggregate as they conclude their cup commitments for the 2023/24 campaign – match tickets are available from £7.50 adults / £3 junior by clicking here.
LINE UPS
SHARKS: 15 McGuire-Evans, 14 Hopkins, 13 Ramsbottom, 12 Brough, 11 Tonkin, 10 Duffy, 9 Taylor-Roberts; 1 Schonert, 2 Ridgway, 3 Harper, 4 Shermer, 5 Bowman, 6 Talling, 7 Brown, 8 Hazell.
Replacements: 16 Hyndman, 17 Panayiotou, 18 Iwanejko, 19 Moore, 20 Sams, 21 Bell, 22 Yamamoto, 23 Prothero.
LIGHTNING: 15 Green, 14 Greensmith, 13 Linn, 12 Morrall, 11 Clarke, 10 Davey, 9 Maxwell (vc); 1 Williams, 2 Calladine, 3 Wells, 4 Ives Campion, 5 O’Donnell, 6 Duguid, 7 Svoboda, 8 Hibbert-Jones (c).
Replacements: 16 Andrews, 17 Atkinson, 18 Adjei-Ansere, 19 Taufoou, 20 Austin, 21 Roberts, 22 Smart, 23 Kacirkova.
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