ROUND 14 of the Netball Super League may have been small in terms of number of games, but it was certainly far from it terms of entertainment value.

One of two close games on Friday night was in Hull, with the Rhinos prevailing 49 goals to 45 over the Sirens.

It was close for much of the game, but the Rhinos were dominant enough to pick up their second win of the season.

It was an at times scrappy start, with the defenders from both sides playing a pivotal role in stopping any goals going through. It took several minutes but eventually the Rhinos got the first two goals of the match to build a handy early lead.

The Rhinos were able to maintain their lead for much of the quarter as things became pretty even.

However as the quarter progressed things opened up a bit more in favour of the host side, and it was much as a six goal margin but was back to two by the time the quarter ended.

The second quarter again saw many of the momentum swings that littered the first quarter.

The Rhinos again had a good start in the second term and rebuilt a five goal lead early in the term. Minutes later though the Sirens had fought back into the match and got the deficit down to a singular goal.

It remained nail bighting tight for the rest of the quarter as the pace was also high and it was the kind of game play where it was so tight that one simple mistake would prove particularly costly.

The Sirens did manage to level things up but some late goals to the home side ensured they were the ones with a single goal lead at the main break.

It went goal for goal to start the second term, but after the Sirens capitalised on some defensive ball and were confident enough to use the long cross court pass, they managed to pinch a goal off the Rhinos’ centre pass and then convert to go two ahead. However they were unable to maintain their lead for long as the Rhinos levelled back up and took the lead shortly after.

It was far from a comfortable lead though as the Sirens proved by levelling back up with two minutes left in the quarter.

It looked like the sides were going to go into the final change all tied up, but one last goal to the Rhinos saw them take a one goal lead into the break again.

Proceedings were again tight early in the final term, which was just a continuation of much of the evening. Both teams held a lead at least once in the opening 10 minutes of the term, and it was unclear as to which side would ultimately prevail.

However the Sirens failed to score even one goal inside the final four minutes of the term as the Rhinos scored the final four goals of the game to take the win.

For the Rhinos, Vicki Oyesola (six deflections, three rebounds, one intercept) starred yet again, while although she was not playing her usual position Caroline O’Hanlon (33 feeds) also had a great game.

Meanwhile for the Sirens Towera Vinkhumbo (five intercepts, three deflections) and Niamh McCall (25 goals, seven feeds) both starred.

In other results:

• The Rhinos were not the only ones to get a tight win on Friday night, with the Mavericks also picking up a narrow win over the Celtic Dragons.

The Dragons led early, before the Mavericks turned things around in the second term, which ultimately proved to really be the defining quarter.

Ine-Mari Venter (42 goals, two feeds, two rebounds) had a productive night under the ring for the Mavericks, while up the other end Aliyah Zaranyika (three intercept, one deflection) had another great game.

Meanwhile for the Dragons, Shaquanda Greene-Noel (four deflections, two intercepts, one rebound) and Annabel Roddy (three deflections, three rebounds) were the stars.

• The Loughborough Lightning handed Manchester Thunder a rare loss, defeating the reigning champions by sight goals.

It was not until the third term that things started to open up a bit for the Lightning, and that ultimately proved to be the deciding term as things tightened up again in the last.

Mary Cholhok (60 goals, six rebounds, one deflection) played a starring role in attack for the Lightning, while Fran Williams (three deflections, three rebounds, one intercept) and Alice Harvey (five deflections, two intercepts, one rebound) starred in defence.

Meanwhile for the Thunder, it was the usual suspects who starred, namely Lenize Potgieter (43 goals, three feeds, three rebounds, one deflection), Natalie Metcalf (39 feeds, three goals, one rebound) and Josie Huckle (three deflections, three intercepts).

• In the top of the table clash it was the London Pulse who prevailed over the Surrey Storm in a nine goal win.

The Storm started off strong and restricted the Pulse to only nine goals in the opening term, but a 20 goal to 11 third term from the Pulse really turned things around and ultimately helped them take the win.

In a fiery game Berri Neil (26 feeds, 17 goals, two deflections, one intercept) and Chelsea Pitman (32 feeds, four deflections) were among many who starred for the Pulse.

Meanwhile it was the defenders who starred for the Storm, namely Layla Guscoth (five deflections, three intercepts, two rebounds) and Hannah Knights (two intercepts, one deflection).