Netball Super League | Burgess lauds relentless Lightning en route to Grand Final

Hannah Joseph and Izzi Phillips battle for the ball

Image: Morgan Harlow

Vic Burgess lauded Loughborough Lightning’s relentless nature as they booked their place in a fourth consecutive Netball Super League Grand Final.

In a repeat of last year’s showpiece, defending champions Lightning came out on top 59-47 against London Pulse to set up a showdown with Manchester Thunder in a week’s time.

Pulse had beaten Lightning twice in the regular season, but the hosts made sure third time was the charm as they carved out a crucial lead across the second and third quarters to earn victory.

Lightning will face Thunder in a repeat of the 2022 Grand Final that was won by Thunder, with Burgess’ side also bidding to become just the fourth team to retain the Netball Super League title.

It was a frenetic encounter throughout at the Sir David Wallace Arena, with both sides trading plenty of turnovers but it was Lightning who ultimately made hay and Burgess praised her players for never letting up.

“Everybody’s intent today was absolutely awesome,” she said. “Their work-rate on the court, every minute mattered and they did a really good job of executing that.

“We kept shouting from the sideline, “no resting, there’s no rest, you’ve got to keep going”, and that was the difference really.

“We do talk about winning when it matters and you’ve certainly seen that today. It’s the belief and want to want to do it.

“Everyone has worked so hard over the last few weeks to make sure we put ourselves in the best position possible on and off the court to be able to go into the final next week.”

Anything you can do… 👀

🔄 A brilliant turnover from @BethCobs1 is met with a huge interception in the pocket by @FadojuFunmi. @lborolightning l @pulse_netball pic.twitter.com/UOdbLiUUuV

— Netball Super League (@NetballSL) June 22, 2024

There was little to choose between the sides in a tetchy first quarter, with both teams looking for a foothold in the contest.

Pulse took an early lead after Funmi Fadoju and Halimat Adio forced a loose pass but Player of the Match Beth Cobden responded almost immediately with the first three deflections.

Lightning got their noses in front at the start of the second quarter, quickly running out to a four-goal lead after important interventions from Alice Harvey and Nicola Smith but Pulse refused to let their opponents get away from them.

Patient play on the circle edge allowed Alicia Scholes to unpick the Lightning defence and get Pulse back into the contest, before Scholes proved her worth off the ball with a turnover to keep the visitors in touch.

However, the key damage for Pulse came just after half-time, as Lightning came out of the blocks at the restart and raced into a seven-goal lead.

Image: Morgan Harlow

That soon became 13 at one stage in the third quarter but Pulse continued to graft to give them a fighting chance in the last quarter.

And although Pulse put up their highest-scoring quarter of 16 goals, it was not enough to produce a famous comeback as Lightning saw out the game and booked their place in the final.

“It’s amazing, I am so happy,” said Cobden. “We just keep building as a group, we have a great culture, it’s brilliant. I am really pleased for all the girls.

“What an amazing game. I am really proud of the girls tonight, everyone out there did their job and we put it out there on the night when it mattered.

“They [Pulse] have got such good depth in that team, it was preparing for however many great wing attacks can come on.

“There has been a lot of thought going into it this week, a gameplan for every wing attack. They’re awesome players and they are just going to keep getting better and better.”

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