Malawi Queens goalkeeper Laureen Ngwira has become the hub of English side Team Northumbria’s revival campaign in their 58-47 win over Celtic Dragons last week despite having a painful tooth.
The club’s coach Tearoha Keenan made the revelation in an article ‘Northumbria star Ngwira bites back’ posted on the club’s website www.northumbriasport.com on Friday evening.
The former Tigresses player signed for the English club just three months ago and has so far won two Player-of-the-Match awards in three league matches.
“Keenan has hailed the impact of star import Laureen Ngwira after revealing the Malawi Queen played through the pain barrier to lead Team Northumbria to a third win of the season [against Dragons],” the article reads.
“And Keenan is hoping to name Ngwira in her starting seven after the Commonwealth Games star had a painful tooth extracted earlier this week.”
Keenan was quoted as saying: “Laureen was on antibiotics heading into the Dragons match last weekend and she was in a lot of pain. As soon as she came off the court, she had an ice pack on her face to reduce the swelling and it was clear she was extremely uncomfortable.
“But I needed her to play against Dragons and she emerged with the Player of the Match award. That is a measure of Laureen. Since she returned from the Commonwealth, she has performed consistently well and has been a big reason we have tightened things up at the defensive end. I think she has proved herself to be a real asset to [Northumbria] in a very short space of time.”
Northumbria kept themselves in the hunt for a top-eight finish by completing the Netball Superleague double against Dragons last week.
