Pulse stay perfect as Lightning and 'feral' Thunder also win in NSL

London Pulse maintained their unbeaten start to the Netball Super League season on Sunday with a 67-52 win over Cardiff Dragons.

It was a seventh victory out of seven for Pulse but they were made to work hard by the winless Dragons in the opening half and only led 32-25 at the break before pulling away after the interval.

Liv Tchine again led the scoring for Pulse with 25 goals but there was a strong display by Sophie Kelly who finished with eight goals and her all-round efforts earned her the player of the match award.

Georgia Rowe scored 33 goals for the Dragons.

Manchester Thunder claimed second place in the table by defeating London Mavericks in the final game of the round on Monday.

Thunder enjoyed a seven-point lead at half-time but Mavericks fought back to reduce the deficit to two points before the final quarter.

However, an improved showing in the closing stages helped Thunder secure a 59-54 win - their fifth victory in seven games.

Defending NSL champions Loughborough Lightning also claimed a tense victory over Birmingham Panthers in the seventh round and sit third.

One point separated the two at half-time, but Lightning edged a four-goal lead in the third quarter and held on for a 72-68 success.

Fresh from their first win of the season last week, Panthers were brimming with confidence at Sir David Wallace Arena and made it difficult for the hosts.

But Loughborough kept their composure as experienced Lightning shooter Samantha Wallace-Joseph scored 34 goals, while England goal attack Berri Neil added 16.

But Panthers had their opportunities and will consider themselves unlucky not to come away with more than the one point they will receive for keeping the deficit to less than five goals.

Shooter Sigi Burger was clinical under the post, scoring 37 goals, while Betsy Creak added 10 and the defence worked tirelessly to gain possession of the ball 16 times to 10 from their opponents.

Lightning have stuttered at times this season but will be relieved to get over the line before facing a crucial match against fellow top-four contenders Thunder next week.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest secured a third win of the season with a 76-60 win over Leeds Rhinos.

The two sides were level on points with two wins and four losses so far in this campaign but, after a close first half, Forest dominated the second and pulled away for a comfortable win.

Manchester Thunder's Taylor McKevitt, player of the match: "I felt on edge on court.

"It's so good we're having competitive, close games, but you'd rather be 20 goals up in quarter one. But Mavericks brought it to us, so props to them.

"We've been working on that feral energy, so going for every ball, making sure every loose ball has Thunder's hands on it. We're trying to bring that throughout the court."

McKevitt on Thunder head coach Karen Greig asking at half-time 'Do you want to win this game?': "It definitely lit a fire under us."

Manchester Thunder head coach Karen Greig: "It was a really tough game, but we know it always is against Mavericks.

"They always come out really defensively strong.

"There were times when we let being run hard affect us, so that's something we're going to have to adjust to pretty quick."

Mavericks head coach Camilla Buchanan: "It was a great game and these are the kind of games we're relishing.

"They enjoyed it. That was the game that four weeks ago we wouldn't have been able to put on that performance.

"So whilst we're on the disappointing end of the result, I'm massively, massively proud of them in terms of some of the performances that were out there.

"We had the opportunity to take that game, 100%."

Round seven

Friday 25 April

Leeds Rhinos 60-76 Nottingham Forest

Loughborough Lightning 72-68 Birmingham Panthers

Sunday 27 April

London Pulse 67-52 Cardiff Dragons

Monday 28 April

Manchester Thunder 59-54 London Mavericks