Northern Thunder have just seen out their first season at their new home venue, Bury Castle Leisure Centre.

The centre spent nearly £12,000 renovating its sports hall so it could be the base for the Co-operative Netball Superleague outfit, and to meet International Standard Netball court, along with sunken netball posts, and seating for around 450 spectators.

The town centre location of Castle is ideal for a thriving netball community with oneof the best local leagues in the country, Bury Ladies League.

This boasts five separate divisions and matches taking place several nights a week in six different locations.

For Thunder, the season brought not only a new home venue, but the arrival of fresh players into the squad. Most notably, the addition of Karen Greig and former England international and Welsh Captain Bev Lovatt.

Local Bury girl Rachel Whitmore also joined the squad along with the likes of Kerry Almond, Helen Browne and Charlottle Beenham; all premier league players.

Thunder saw a great improvement this season, finishing in seventh place, with six good wins under their belt.

The first thrilling encounter of the season saw Thunder narrowly defeated by Team Northumbria but a first glimpse of Thunder’s new model squad gave hope forthe rest of the season.

It was a particularly promising start for goalkeeper Kerry Almond on her debut, who was rewarded with the player of the match accolade. Next came the greatly anticipated local derby, between Northern Thunder and close rivals Leeds Carnegie in mid-December. It was a memorable match, in front of more than 500 screaming fans at Castle, and a nailbiting game which ended 51-49 in the home side's favour.

A match that cannot be forgotten was the tense nail-biter against Celtic Dragons.

Spectators were treated to end-to-end action but the close score throughout was no threat to Karen Greig's calm confidence, the main contributor to Thunder’s eventual win, 42-41 along with an outstanding performance by Emma Dovey that saw her named player of the match.

The final match of the season was at home, against the Glasgow Wildcats, who were strong contenders for the hotly contested sixth place spot.

They never troubled the strong home side however, and Thunder sailed to a comfortable 52-36 win, to end to the season on a high.

Northern Thunder have recently won the Co-operative Community Award, which is given to the franchise which has made the most significant contribution to its local community. It can clearly be seen how Bury has benefited from this.

The emergence of regular competitive matches of a high standard available for spectators has proved popular wih the big games always attracting large crowds, with many local schools and clubs attending.

Thunder also run summer netball camps that have proved highly popular, with some of the team's top players offering coaching.

The renovation of the sports hall at Castle Leisure Centre, also benefits the numerous other activities using the facility.

Details about the summer camps can be found on the Northern Thunder website at www.thundernetball.com