NSL Unwrapped: Forest and Mavericks win thrillers in Round 4

Nottingham Forest claimed the East Midlands bragging rights as they defeated Loughborough Lightning in Round 4 of the Netball Super League.

London Mavericks also won in thrilling style, defeating Birmingham Panthers, who must wait for their first victory.

Elsewhere, Manchester Thunder and London Pulse kept up their winning streaks beating LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons and NIC Leeds Rhinos respectively.

Forest upset Lightning in East Midlands derby

Nottingham Forest squeezed past Loughborough Lightning 73-71 to win the Netball Super League's first East Midlands derby.

The two are both playing their arena games at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, and it was Forest who held home advantage for this meeting.

A tense match-up from the first centre pass, Forest pulled ahead toward the end of the first quarter with Rhea Dixon and Rolene Streutker making smart use of the Soft & Gentle Super Shot early on to propel them ahead.

Lightning came within touching distance of levelling proceedings, consistently only two goals away, but were unable to overcome the small deficit until early in the second half, punching their way out of the gate to take the lead.

Credit: Ben Lumley

It all came down to the dynamic Forest defence, with Kissimmee Player of the Match Jayda Pechova shining alongside Tash Pavelin and Hannah Leighton.

Pulling back into the lead and surging ahead to another two-goal advantage, Forest upset the reigning champions to continue their unbeaten at home run.

Mavericks fight back to defeat spirited Panthers

London Mavericks won a last-minute thriller 69-68 to deny Birmingham Panthers their first win.

Taking netball to Brighton for the first time, Mavericks took an early lead but were soon staring down a deficit as Panthers shot strongly.

Credit: Hayley Balvin

Emily Andrew's proficiency with the Super Shot kept her side in touching distance but Mavericks still trailed by eight points at quarter-time.

The second quarter was her shooting partner Emma Thacker's turn to deliver as she made a buzzer-beating Super Shot to see the hosts head into the break just one goal behind.

The pattern repeated itself in the second half as Panthers moved ahead before Andrew's shooting pulled her side back.

On her Mavericks debut, Jemma Donoghue produced a stunning intercept that helped turn the tide with Mavericks soon moving into the lead for the first time since the opening exchanges.

Andrew was the hero once more as her late score saw Mavericks take the game by a solitary point.

Pulse fight past Rhinos 

London Pulse were pushed hard by NIC Leeds Rhinos, but the league leaders were able to keep up their winning streak with a 72-53 victory. 

While London Pulse’s attack was unusually disjointed, their defence was a well-oiled machine. 

It meant that even though Leeds Rhinos put themselves ahead, they were never able to pull away as the visitors pushed them to use Plan B and C to get the ball to goal almost from the get-go.

Credit: Tom Pearson

Nichole Breedt’s composure with the Soft & Gentle Super Shot helped restore Pulse’s lead in the first quarter before the table-toppers were able to stretch further in front to hold an eight-point advantage at the break. 

The troubles in Pulse’s attack returned in the second half while Rhinos began to click to cut the gap to just three at the end of the third quarter. 

The second half followed a similar pattern though, as Pulse again drove ahead to ultimately close out their fourth consecutive win comfortably. 

Thunder clinch three on the bounce

Manchester Thunder got the better of LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons in the Welsh capital with an emphatic 72-47 win.

It was impressive out of the blocks for the visitors, who roared to an early lead. A first start for Shannon Mahlik at goal attack, paired with a Player of Match performance from Elmere van der Berg accelerated Thunder ahead from the get-go.

With a 38-26 deficit at half time, Dragons came out firing after half-time to try and close the gap but were unable to make a dent in Thunder's shooting accuracy.

Credit: Huw Evans Agency

Multiple missed shots saw the hosts struggle in attack, but their defence impressed on the other side of the court, racking up an incredible 10 rebounds, 15 deflections, 13 gains and five intercepts.

But it was not enough as Thunder surged ahead through the Soft & Gentle Super Shot and clinched their third win on the bounce.

Main image credit: Flynn Duggan