Loughborough Lightning came away from Sandy Park with a disappointing 42-12 defeat to Exeter Chiefs in a tough encounter in the South West.
The African Violets had a try either side of half-time with Ellie Tromans crossing the whitewash before the break, and Amelia Williams scoring yet another solo stunner; however, it wasn’t to be enough to overcome Chiefs, who ran in six tries against the African Violet.
FIRST HALF:
Lightning started the better of the two sides with Chiefs giving away multiple early penalties, but the visitors were struggling to capitalise on the possession. Eventually, it would be the hosts who struck first with a kick in behind, bouncing nicely into the winger’s hands, who got the offload away to Lola Whitley, who dove over.
Despite Exeter’s early try, neither side managed to get a real foothold for the subsequent twenty minutes, with small errors costing both teams possession and territory.
Eventually, Lightning had their try. They remained patient in the build-up and went through the phases inside the opposition 22. A kick in behind the defensive line was run straight back by the fullback, and a picture-perfect jackal from Tamsin Baynes turned the ball back over for Carmela Morrall to find an edge and execute a perfect two-on-one to find Tromans on the wing for the finish.
Lightning thought they had one more shortly before the break, but Exeter did well to hold the ball up from close range, and the hosts came straight back down the field just on the stroke of half-time, and Sofia Bekir Fuente was the beneficiary at the tail of the rolling maul.
SECOND HALF:
Chiefs came out for the second half and struck immediately after Lightning lost possession of the kickoff. It allowed the hosts easy entry into the 22 and eventually crashed over from short range by Alessia Skeates. They added their bonus point score shortly after from short range on the 50-minute mark as Emily Robinson crashed over.
Things worsened for the African Violet as Emily Peters sent was sent to the bin for consistent penalty infringements and Exeter capitalised on the advantage, launching from a scrum and Hannah Sams went over after a couple of phases.
Eventually, Lightning would have their second through an incredible solo finish from Williams as she found an outside shoulder on the halfway line and used her unbelievable pace for the finish under the sticks.
Lightning were defending for their lives, and held another one up close to the line, repelling wave after wave of attack from Chiefs, but ultimately were struggling to exit out of their own half, and the hosts kept the pressure on them, and finally Merryn Elworthy crossed for Exeter’s final try of the afternoon.
Lightning complete their JAECOO Next Gen Cup group stages with an East Midlands Derby against Leicester Tigers on Saturday 17 October (kick-off: 2pm) – a match that is being staged at Loughborough University. The match is free to attend for Lightning Season Ticket holders (which are still available by clicking HERE) and match tickets are available by clicking HERE.
LINE-UPS:
CHIEFS: 15 Merryn Elworthy, 14 Danielle Preece, 13 Gabby Cantorna, 12 Naomi Brennan, 11 Sammie Harris, 10 Liv McGoverne, 9 Lucy Nye; 1 Lilly Plowman, 2 Sofia Bekir Fuente, 3 Alessia Skeates, 4 Ellie Wood, 5 Kate Smith, 6 Lola Whitley, 7 Zoë Dare, 8 Emily Robinson (c).
Replacements: 16 Kayleigh Priest, 17 Hannah Sams, 18 Amelia Lambourn, 19 Izzy Newnes‑Smith, 20 Lizzie Lander, 21 Lucy Nye, 22 Frankie Welsher, 23 Deborah Wills.
LIGHTNING: 15 Amy Layzell, 14 Alice Bennett, 13 Molly Luthayi, 12 Carmela Morrall, 11 Ellie Tromans, 10 Abbie Brown, 9 Alicia Maude; 1 Amelia Williams, 2 Harli Stanton, 3 Grace Clifford, 4 Kaya Acton, 5 Tamsin Baynes, 6 Sasha Roberts, 7 Sarah Shrestha, 8 Ellie Roberts (c),
Replacements: 16 India King, 17 Churchy Knight, 18 Catherine Wells, 19 Emily Peters, 20 Mary McDonagh, 21 Ashton Adcock, 22 Emily Heaps, 23 Imogen Mockford.
Loughborough Lightning 2026/27 Season Tickets are still on sale priced from £70 adult and £25 child. To purchase yours or for more information, please click HERE.