NSL R2: Pulse 72 Team Bath 42
Friday Night Netball got off to a flying start with London Pulse’s first home match of the 2023 season.
With a packed crowd in fine voice, the first quarter was all about settling into the game. Although it started with a turnover from Bath, with Pulse struggling to find the width, the game quickly turned Pulse’s way with the attack finding Tchine and McDonald with more and more ease as the quarter progressed. The quarter ended with Pulse leading 16-10.
No changes for Pulse going into the second quarter and the team delivered – pushing into 2nd gear and absolutely dominating from one end of the court to the other. Keable and Fadoju began to turn the ball at every opportunity and Everitt and Clarke helped the ball to fly through the court into the hands of Scholes who was feeding beautiful balls on and off the circle edge. A 22-10 quarter the reward for a stand-out team performance. At half-time, the teams went into the changing rooms with Pulse leading 38-20.
After such a dominant first half Pulse made wholesale changes with the entire bench entering the court – Neil to GA, Pitman to WA, Dekker to C, Rattu to WD and Adio to GK. A huge cheer erupted from the crowd to see Adio back on her home court after a season out rehabbing from injury. And back she came with a vengeance, showing the entire Copper Box that she came to play! Adio and Fadoju combined beautifully – continuing to pick of the ball from the Bath attack with ease. A 19-9 quarter saw Pulse enter the final period of the game leading 57-29. A seemingly unreachable target for the visiting team.
But Bath were not about to roll over and increased their turnover rate, which the attack rewarded with some great balls into the circle that were slotted by the shooters. A much closer quarter saw Pulse win 15-13 and take the game by a staggering 72-42.
The result saw Pulse record their highest ever number of goals in NSL, helped in no small part by 96% shooting stats from PoM Olivia Tchine.
Match Report/Image : London Pulse Netball
