Team Bath hold off London Pulse in pulsating third-place play-off

Phumza Maweni and Layla Guscoth, crowned the league’s Player of the Season, suffocated Pulse in the shooting circle through the first three quarters.

The Copper Box residents mounted a rousing response, closing a six-point gap to two in the final quarter, but left themselves with too much to do.

Anna Stembridge’s tenure at the helm of the five-time winners ended on a winning note after a season spent battling injuries, Covid-19 absences and inexperience.

Sam Bird’s Pulse emerge from a history-making season with an abundance of credit, having made the play-offs for the first time.

Bath, who split their two regular-season meetings with Pulse, were quicker out of the gate and surged into a 5-2 lead after six minutes.

Pulse pulled it back to 5-5 but Olivia Tchine and Tayla Honey both turned the ball over in quick succession as Bath’s defence took hold of the game.

Two of the best defences in the league went toe-to-toe with Pulse starlets Funmi Fadoju and Zara Everitt disrupting Bath with a number of deflections.

A contact foul against Tash Pavelin with scores level at 11-11 helped Pulse go on a quick run with Tchine settling into her shooting rhythm.

A first half remembered for world-class defensive plays ended with the sides in virtual lockstep at 19-18.

Once again, in the third quarter Bath were the faster starters, going on a 7-3 scoring run to steal a march on Bird’s side.

The purple patch was summed up when skipper Imogen Allison’s pass, bound for the circle from the near baseline, looped into the net from long range.

Fadoju pulled out another superb interception that threatened to turn the tide but the ‘Championship quarter’ belonged firmly to the five-time winners.

Imogen Allison’s efficient feeding provided Kim Borger with sufficient ball to outscore the Copper Box residents 13-8 and take the initiative.

Pulse, who have carried an average age of 22 this season, cut the deficit through sheer persistence with Fadoju picking up two turnovers to raise the roof.

Berri Neil and then Tchine crucially failed to convert turnovers into goals with the score at 33-30, albeit Neil would cut the deficit to two after rebounding another Tchine miss.