London Pulse Netball back to winning ways to secure a top-four position

Photo from @londonpulsenetball

London Pulse 63 v 58 Birmingham Panthers 

In their last meeting, London Pulse achieved a 68–58 victory over Birmingham Panthers. Despite an early lead by the hosts, Pulse’s Halimat Adio and Funmi Fadoju ignited a crucial first-quarter run. The Panthers reduced the gap with Super Shots, even tying the game in the dramatic third quarter after a Pulse suspension.

However, finishing from Tchine and key plays by the Everitt sisters allowed Pulse to pull away in the final minutes and secure all three points.

This evening’s game saw Panthers push Pulse to a tightly contested match, during which both sides swung momentum at various points through turnovers and unforced errors, before Pulse ustilised the third quarter to pull away and gain a five-goal lead.

How the Game Unfolded:

Nichole Breedt got London Pulse on teh board first, but it was Birmingham Panthers who grabbed an early lead after Gabby Coffey took advantage of a rebound off Breedt’s missed shot, which allowed her side to take a fast start through Sigi Burger.

The visitors took advantage of a few Pulse unforced errors, off of Panthers' pressure in defence, as Jas Brown, who leads the rebound stats in the league, took another rebound off a missed shot from Pulse.

However, Pulse started to claw the deficit back through Breedt and Liv Tchine, who used the quick transitions from Alicia Scholes to sharpen up the attack end despite teh building pressure from Brown and Coffey.

The visitors grabbed a three-goal lead just before the Super Shot time, capitalising on a breaking call against Scholes, which was converted by Burger despite the Pulse pressure in the circle. 

During the Super Shot time, Breedt converted the first Super Shot to give the home crowd a lift at the Copperbox as the deficit was pulled back once again, before the Pulse defence capitalised on a mistake in the shooting circle. Zara Everrtt brought the ball down to the shooting circle through a passage of passes with Scholes, where the defensive efforts were rewarded by Tchine through a one-shot goal.

Brown continued to show her rebounding strengths after a few missed Super Shots from the Pulse attackers. Tchine shot her first Super Shot within the last minute of the quarter to build the home side’s momentum just before the quarter break. 

Despite Pulse's efforts to draw the quarter, their tentative start allowed the Panthers to pull away at times. Although they grew into the game over the 15 minutes, it was the visitors who took the lead in the first quarter. 

Q1: London Pulse 14-16 Birmingham Panthers 

Going into the second quarter, neither change made any changes. On their opening centre pass, there was no movement in the Panthers' shooting circle, which allowed Funmi Fadoju to take the intercept out of the circle, which was rewarded down the other end to give Pulse the opening goal of the quarter.

Pulse then drew level in the opening minutes of the quarter, utilising their turnover and centre pass. The first change of the game came through Panthers as Gabby Sinclair replaced Betsy Creak in goal attack.

Fadoju halted Panthers’ momentum with another intercept, giving Pulse another chance at the post as Tchine brought Pulse back level once again after some uncharacteristic misses at the post allowed Panthers to pull away again.

Halimat Adio continued to build the defensive pressure for Pulse, coming out with another intercept, which allowed Tchine to net another to give the home side the lead for the first time in the game.

Both Pulse defenders brought a bit more hesitancy in play for the Panthers shooters just before the Super Shot time as both intercepted the ball at important times to help their side.

Everitt started the Super Shot with a deflection, which gave her side another gain, as Breedt confidently netted a Super Shot to bring the lead up to six. Sinclair continued her impressive form in the Super Shot time (shooting at 73% for the season) as she helped her side bring the game back to a one-goal deficit.

Heading into half-time, Pulse maintained a two-goal lead due to their momentum shift in the second quarter, primarily established through balls gained by Adio and Fadoju.

However, this gained ball was not accompanied by high conversion rates, as evidenced by a low shooting percentage of 68% compared to the Panthers' 83%, which is below the usual output expected from the Pulse attackers. 

Q2: London Pulse 28-26 Birmingham Panthers (14-10)

The visitors took control in the third quarter through Burger, who maintained her 100% shooting for the match, starting the 15 minutes by putting three points on the scoreboard after an intercept by Coffey allowed the Panthers to create a quick change in momentum.

Tchine brought the home side back up by one despite the challenges posed by Brown and Coffey in the circle.

Both sides kept the game flowing with end-to-end play as the deficit remained just one for most of the third quarter. However, Pulse utilised their patient play through the court to build a four-goal lead, which prompted Jo Tripp to call a tactical timeout, followed by Aliyah Zaranyika coming onto the court in wing defence. 

Both sides utilised the one point play despite being in the Super Shot time, with Pulse steadying their lead. Sinclair and Tchine both netted two of their Super Shot attempts within the final two minutes of the quarter; Breedt netted the final two-point shot in the dying seconds to give the home side a six-goal lead. 

Despite starting the third quarter well, Panthers’ unforced errors allowed Pulse to swing teh momentum in their favour and create the biggest goal margin of the game. 

Q3: London Pulse 48-42 Birmingham Panthers (20-16)

In the final quarter, the Panthers rotated their shooting circle once more. Tchine steadied the Pulse attack line by scoring the first goal of the quarter. Fadoju’s intercept shifted the momentum in favour of the home side, as their quick transitions down court were rewarded by their shooters, who managed to double up on that play.

London Pulse began to dominate the quarter, capitalising on the unforced errors from the visitors and maintaining their patient play throughout court. Coffey produced an important intercept and deflection after moving into goalkeeper, which allowed Panthers to gain a turnover and prompted a tactical timeout from Sam Bird.  

Going into the final Super Shot period, Creak capitalised on an earlier intercept from her midcourt as Panthers drew the score back to six, which was mirrored by Sinclair’s attempt on their centre pass.

Tchine lifted the crowd’s momentum following her own Super Shot attempt, as down the other end, Creak was also successful with the long-range shot. After a series of inconsistent attempts, Breedt continued the momentum of the Super Shot period, pushing the Pulse score further ahead.

In the final minute of play, Fadoju intercepted a missed shot, and after some patient play down the court, the chance was finished off by Tchine in the two-point area.

During the final quarter, Pulse kept their composure despite a brief Panthers fightback during the Super Shot period. Breedt and Tchine added crucial late goals, with Fadoju’s final intercept sealing a confident finish and a deserved win for the home side.

Q4: London Pulse 63-58 Birmingham Panthers (15-16)

Player of the Match- 

Sky Sports named Funmi Fadoju as their player of the match, praising her important defensive efforts. The English international had four intercepts, nine deflections and six gains to her name. 

Next Fixtures-

Both sides are back in action next weekend, with London Pulse hosting Leeds Rhinos and Birmingham Panthers hosting fourth-place London Mavericks.

Teams: 

London Pulse- Liv Tchine (GS), Nichole Breedt (GA), Alicia Scholes (WA), Tyler Orr (C), Zara Everitt* (WD), Funmi Fadoju (GD), Halimat Adio (GK)

Bench- Darcie Everitt, Sophie Kelly, Gracie Smith

Head Coach- Sam Bird

Birmingham Panthers- Sigi Burger (GS), Betsy Creak* (GA), Jess Shaw (WA), Ruth Hughes (C), Michelle Magee (WD), Gabby Coffey (GD), Jas Brown (GK)

Bench- Ellen Withington, Aliyah Zaranyika, Gabby Sinclair

Head Coach- Jo Trip

*- Captains 

London Pulse 63 v 58 Birmingham Panthers