Netball Superleague 2016: Manchester & Hertfordshire make it two wins

Manchester and Hertfordshire made it two wins from two in Superleague.

Led by player of the match Helen Housby, Thunder secured a comfortable 72-52 victory over Celtic Dragons.

Mavericks beat Loughborough Lightning 48-44, while defending champions Surrey Storm earned a first win of the season with a 57-35 victory over Northumbria on Friday.

Team Bath also recorded a second successive win with a 58-38 victory over Yorkshire Jets on Monday.

Manchester's attacking wizard Liana Leota continued her fine form on her home debut, linking up well with goal shooter Housby to give Thunder a 40-20 half-time lead.

Celtic Dragons came out fighting after the break and were able to slow Thunder's goal scoring rate, but the 2014 champions proved too strong and ran out easy winners.

In the second game of the day, Loughborough Lightning travelled to Hertfordshire Mavericks with both teams having recorded opening day victories.

Lightning struggled initially against a strong Mavericks defence, but they fought back to lead 25-22 at the second break.

In a tightly contested match, neither side were able to break away but errors from Lightning in the closing minutes were punished by the calm shooting of George Fisher as Hertfordshire edged out Loughborough.

England defender Eboni Beckford-Chambers impressed once again as her side saw off Yorkshire Jets in Sheffield.

Bath were ruthless in the first half, punishing Jets' errors to take a 10-point lead at the half-time break.

South African Vanes-Mari du Toit then moved from goal shooter to keeper for Jets but failed to make the desired impact.

Team Bath's shooters were deadly under the posts and they closed out a 20-point victory to maintain their perfect start.

A strong defensive performance saw Surrey Storm make amends for their opening day defeat by Team Bath.

Northumbria's Nicole Dixon became the first player in the 2016 season to be sent off for two minutes as she was dismissed for persistent fouling in the final quarter.

Her side were restricted to just 43 shots on target during the match and remain winless this campaign.

Storm's attacking trio of Rachel Dunn, Pamela Cookey and Georgia Lees were in full flow and former England international Cookey finished the game with a 100% shooting record.