Strathclyde Sirens, Saracens Mavericks and Manchester Thunder also finished the 'Season Opener' weekend on victorious notes; home and away fixtures now commence for all teams; Round Three starts with Mavericks against Pulse streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel on Friday
Monday 7 February 2022 06:03, UK
London Pulse recorded their first-ever victory over Team Bath Netball in the Vitality Netball Superleague on Sunday afternoon.
Sam Bird's outfit, who this season also have Lisa Alexander in their corner as their performance director, delivered a 60-minute performance to topple the five-time Vitality Netball Superleague champions.
The defensive prowess of Funmi Fadoji anchored their work and the team that contain some of England's most promising young talents kept their composure in the face of enormous pressure.
It marks London Pulse's first victory of the new Superleague season following a loss to Loughborough Lightning on the opening day. For Bath, the result means that they leave the 'Season Opener' weekend in Birmingham with one victory and one loss.
Two further matches take place on Sunday to conclude the weekend; Celtic Dragons take on Saracens Mavericks and Severn Stars face Manchester Thunder.
London Pulse set their stall out early against last year's runners-up and during the first 50 minutes of the match held six-goal and 10-goal cushions.
However, with 10 minutes to go in the final quarter Bath levelled the contest back at 41 goals piece. Instead of becoming despondent, Pulse lifted their game again and refused to let their hard work be amount to nothing.
At the back, Fadoju's range and reading of the game created countless turnovers, as did the work of Jada Pechova who was only promoted to a training partner in January following the news that Halimat Adio needs further knee surgery.
The level that Fadoju and Pechova were working at inspired their teammates in front of them and Pulse's all-court defence raised confidence levels further.
Bath's Layla Guscoth did her utmost to steal ball back for the most decorated side in Superleague history, but without Serena Guthrie at centre, they lacked an anchor through court and someone else who could also turn the contest.
Head coach Anna Stembridge looked to her bench multiple times during the 60 minutes to try and change the picture in attack, but Pulse always had Bath's card marked.
As the clocked ticked down, Pulse converted a crucial three-second call with Olivia Tchine showing that she's more than capable of stepping up this season as their No 1 goal shooter.
With Bird and their bench erupting for every turnover and goal, Pulse use the final couple of minutes to make sure of their victory and after Fadoju shared what it meant to them.
"It shows everyone what we can do," she said to Sky Sports. "We can make the top four and we can win.
"We went out there and pushed on until the very end, which is something that we've always been trying to work on and it's just amazing. That's the best performance we've put out there."
We keep talking about how talented we are and what potential we've got and today we have arrived. It makes such a big difference, we feel like we can push on from here and achieve anything. It gives the players a lot of belief.
Strathclyde Sirens also delivered a stunning defensive display to overcome Wasps 50-44 on the second day of the Vitality Netball Superleague 'Season Opener' weekend.
The two outfits were first on court at Birmingham's Resort World Arena due to Loughborough Lightning's encounter with Leeds Rhinos Netball being postponed. Rhinos were not able to fulfil the fixture due to not having enough players available.
The 2021 season marked Sirens' best in the competition and marked a step-change in their development. The outfit narrowly missed out on the play-offs and have made no secret about the fact that this season, they want to enjoy play-off netball.
A 54-50 loss to Team Bath Netball on Saturday disappointed the Scottish franchise and on Sunday, they worked hard to put that right and come away with maximum points against an evolving Wasps side.
Player of the match Taylor McKevitt, who was at the heart of their defensive effort alongside Towera Vinkhumbo and Emily Nicholl, said that they shared some home truths at half-time against Wasps. At that point, they were leading by just four goals.
"The match was a complete rollercoaster and it was just so good that we could push on in that final quarter," McKevitt said to Sky Sports.
"We had a big talk in the changing room [at half-time] about putting out a performance that can win the watch and it lit a fire under us.
"There are a lot of conversations about top four and I know it's only at the start of the season, but it's good that we're putting out performances like that which will help us get there. "
Sirens commenced the encounter with the same starting line-up that faced Team Bath. Gia Abernethy was charged with setting the tone at centre, while Bethan Goodwin and Niamh McCall combined together in the shooting circle.
McCall's long-range shots were present throughout the 60 minutes, and although Goodwin's shooting percentage remained lower than she'd like, Sirens turned over enough ball to continue to provide the pair with opportunities.
Both Wasps and Sirens had struggled during their respective third quarters on Saturday; Wasps lost theirs against Mavericks by 20-11 while Sirens only put nine goals on the board to Bath's 16.
Initially it looked as if Mel Mansfield's new-look Wasps team, a squad she describes as having a "vastly experienced core" with exciting young athletes, were going to take control.
However, Sirens' trio of McKevitt, Nicholl and Vinkhumbo really squeezed them and forced cracks to appear.
Out a goal defence, Ella Powell-Davies worked tirelessly for Wasps however 15 unforced errors plagued their afternoon and meant that her work was in vain.
Once Sirens had created their platform in the third quarter, they played with an air of confidence in the last and head home to host Leeds Rhinos Netball with a spring in their step.
Saracens Mavericks and Manchester Thunder were the only two outfits to end the weekend with two victories from two matches.
Loughborough Lightning are also unbeaten, however they only played one contest on Saturday due to their encounter with Leeds Rhinos Netball being postponed.
In the third match of the day on Sunday, Mavericks were made to work hard for their points by Celtic Dragons. Although Kat Ratnapala's team finished as 61-54 victors, they were down at the interval.
Dragons are under the leadership of Dannii Titmus-Morris this season and have a brand-new squad. Despite two losses in Birmingham, the fact they put up 107 goals over their two matches bodes well for their season ahead.
Mavericks were spearheaded by their South African international shooter, Ine-Mari Venter, who delivered 55 of their 61 goals.
In the match of the day, Thunder showed their strength in depth against Severn Stars to deliver a 70-45 result.
Millie Sanders and Emma Rayner in particular impressed alongside their more experienced colleagues.
England's Eleanor Cardwell took a knock to her ankle and Laura Malcolm suffered a heavy fall but both returned to court. Thunder continued to perform without Shadine van der Merwe and Nat Metcalf due to their injuries.
Home and away fixtures now return for all 11 Vitality Netball Superleague teams and Round Three begins on Friday. Saracens Mavericks' encounter with London Pulse will be streamed live on the Sky Sports YouTube channel from 7pm.
