It rained, it poured and Kathryn Treder scored, but Loughborough Lightning left a saturated Sandy Park still searching for that elusive first win at the home of Exeter Chiefs.
In a match that was heavily impacted by torrential rainfall pre-game and throughout the first period, it was Chiefs who adapted best to open a 14-point lead at the break, crossing the line three times with Lightning’s only scoring action coming from their starting hooker.
The rain mercifully relented in the second half, and so did the scoring until the game’s final play as Chiefs took maximum points from a gruelling encounter.
FIRST HALF
Lightning were called into some early rearguard action as Mae Sagapolu burgled a breakdown and Alev Kelter defended brilliantly on the drift, but after ten minutes pinned inside their own half, the dam finally burst when Francesca Granzotto grounded tight to the left corner flag.
The response was almost immediate. Lucia Scott found herself in some unguarded Sandy Park acreage, but unfortunately, the final pass to Bulou Mataitoga failed to connect.
Shortly after that near miss, the visitors displayed their ruthless edge, turning down a simple three points from a central penalty, Helen Nelson kicked to the corner, and hooker Treder guided the ball over the line.
Lightning were not level for long. Granzotto burst up the left wing and was stopped inches from the line before Amy Rule applied the finishing touch. Gabby Cantorna converted, and Alicia Maude was sin-binned for not releasing the tackled player.
Shortly after play resumed, Carmela Morrall was withdrawn for a head injury assessment, with Fancy Bermudez returning from the Australian sunshine playing Sevens for Canada, to pull on her boots in a deluge in Devon.
While still a player down, the African Violets conceded a third try when Hope Rogers pushed over from a few metres out after Mataitoga did well to stop Sabrina Poulin’s drifting run infield.
SECOND HALF
Morrall’s withdrawal was made a permanent one at half-time as Bermudez ran out from the off as Lightning set about trying to overturn a 14-point deficit at the break.
Sunshine suddenly appeared from the skies, and umbrellas were given a break as Rachel Ehrecke timed her leap perfectly to diffuse a dangerous Exeter line out five metres from her own line.
Tahlia Brody was introduced in place of the industrious Becky Boyd as Lightning kept it tight with a series of bludgeoning carries, only for their attacks to end with strong Exeter scrambles from kicks into the 22.
Lightning rolled up their sleeves and defended resolutely inside their own 22, with Alev Kelter producing a brilliant breakdown burgle to win a penalty, but her side struggled to apply attacking pressure of their own to get back into the game.
More than 50 minutes had passed without a further score until, deep into stoppage time, Dorothy Wall burrowed over for her side’s fourth try.
Lightning’s attention now turns to their first home game in two months when they welcome Bristol Bears to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens on Sunday 22 February – tickets are available by clicking HERE.
LINE-UPS
CHIEFS: 15 Sabrina Poulin, 14 Eilidh Sinclair, 13 Alex Tessier, 12 Gabby Cantorna, 11 Francesca Granzotto, 10 Liv McGoverne, 9 Flo Robinson, 1 Hope Rogers, 2 Emily Tuttosi, 3 Amy Rule, 4 Linde Van Der Velden, 5 Abby Duguid, 6 Dorothy Wall, 7 Maisy Allen (c), 8 Maddie Feaunati.
Replacements: 16 El Febrey, 17 Demi Swann, 18 DaLeaka Menin, 19 Gabriella Nigrelli, 20 Zoë Dare, 21 Lucy Nye, 22 Naomi Brennan, 23 Nancy McGillivray.
LIGHTNING: 15 Lucia Scott, 14 Bulou Mataitoga, 13 Alev Kelter, 12 Carmela Morrall, 11 Bo Westcombe-Evans, 10 Helen Nelson, 9 Alicia Maude, 1 Isla Curphey, 2 Kathryn Treder, 3 Mae Sagapolu, 4 Lilli Ives-Campion, 5 Rachel Ehrecke, 6 Becky Boyd, 7 Daisy Hibbert-Jones (C), 8 Haineala Lutui.
Replacements: 16 Paige Stathopoulos, 17 Anne Young, 18 Christine Belisle, 19 Kaya Acton, 20 Tahlia Broady, 21 Kendal Waudby, 22 Aoibhe Kelly, 23 Fancy Bermudez
Photographs by Maeve Blencowe and Dennis Dixon.