NSL Unwrapped - NXT Gen League Rounds 5-8
Loughborough Lightning surged to the top of the NXT Gen League table with three wins in a row.
Between Rounds 5 and 8, Lightning and NIC Leeds Rhinos were the only teams to triumph in all of their matches as the previously unbeaten London Pulse were knocked off top spot.
LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons and London Mavericks each got their first wins of the season as the teams in the middle of the table all pulled off close victories.
Lightning hit summit
Loughborough Lightning stretched their winning run to six as they defeated Manchester Thunder, London Pulse and Nottingham Forest Netball.
After beating Thunder 51-44 away from home, Lightning got revenge over Pulse, who are the only team to have beaten them so far, with a 57-54 victory in Round 6.
After a bye round, Lightning roared back into action with a 72-45 over East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest to move above Pulse on goal difference.
Main photo and this photo courtesy of Ben Lumley.
This came after London Pulse lost their second game of the season as they were defeated 56-45 by Leeds Rhinos in Round 8.
Pulse sit in second, having scored a narrow 51-49 victory over Nottingham Forest before defeating crosstown rivals London Mavericks 60-43.
Mavericks and Dragons earn first wins
London Mavericks got on the board in the NXT Gen league with a 60-48 win away to Cardiff Dragons.
The Welsh side responded well as they suffered a narrow 68-64 loss to Nottingham Forest before getting their maiden victory as they defeated Birmingham Panthers 49-46.
Photo credit: Hayley Balvin
Dragons still sit at the foot of the table, with Mavericks one point above them and Panthers a further three points ahead.
The Birmingham side are on a run of three defeats in a row after falling on the wrong side of meetings with Leeds Rhinos, Cardiff Dragons and Team Bath.
Rhinos on the rise
Leeds Rhinos have surged up the table with four wins in a row, defeating Panthers 51-34 to kick off the run.
After beating London Mavericks 52-50 away, they then got past Team Bath 50-44 before pulling off a strong 56-45 win over London Pulse to move level on points with the team in pink.
Manchester Thunder also sit on 16 points, with Rhinos and Thunder having played one match more than Pulse and two more than leaders Lightning.
After losing to Lightning 51-44, Thunder suffered a narrow 54-51 loss to Nottingham Forest either side of victories. They beat Team Bath 50-49 before downing Dragons 60-50 to record their fifth win of the season from eight games.
Bath keeping up the pressure
Team Bath are just behind Thunder in the table having bounced back from defeats to Thunder and Leeds Rhinos, the latter seeing the Yorkshire side triumph 50-44.
Photo credit: Team Bath Netball
Bath beat out Birmingham Panthers 54-47 for their fourth win of the campaign and next face league leaders Loughborough Lightning.
They will be hoping for a win as Nottingham Forest are nipping at their heels with three wins.
However, a couple of narrow losses puts them only two points behind Bath as the competition nears the halfway stage.
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