2024 NPL Final Weekend: Back to Back undefeated Seasons for U19s and Silver for U17s

Last weekend all U17, U19 and U21 Academy teams descended on Nottingham for the closing weekend of the Netball Performance League. The U17s took a great win to earn Silver medals having lost only one game all season and the U19s completed an undefeated season to become 2024 Champions. This team achieved back to back undefeated season and back to back championship campaigns.

Read more about all 3 teams final games in our match reports below.

U19 Match Report by Daisy Beer

On Saturday 13th April the U19 faced the final league match of the season. All the Franchises were
represented in each age group and we played at David Ross Sports Village, Nottingham University so there
was a great atmosphere with lots of parents cheering teams on.

Everything was riding on this game – a win would give us back to back Gold in the U19 age group. We were
up against Central Warriors who we knew would give us a great challenge. The starting 7 was
Coco
Hannah
Daisy
Summer
Beth
Zaneya
Ellie

It was a a nervy start from Pulse with Warriors really giving us some things to think about. However our
shooters accuracy, mid court connections and defending intercepts kept us competitive and we ended the first quarter 12-12.

Emily came on at GS for the second quarter, and the defending unit saw Evie come on at WD with Zaneya
and Ellie switching positions at the back. Whilst the game remained tight some great defending by the whole team our attack gained more shooting opportunities in this quarter and we gained a 3 goal lead at half time.
Q2 26-23 to Pulse

The third quarter really showed why we have been undefeated all season. Strong CP connections with Daisy and Hannah started to break down the Warriors defence and with Summer linking well with Evie the through court started to really fire up. Coco re-entered the game and found some great space on the baseline. Ellie and Zaneya did some beautiful switching in the circle and really put the Warriors shooters under lots ofpressure. We kept Warriors to just 8 goals in the third quarter.
Q3 44-31 to Pulse

Beth came back on at WD for the start of this quarter – and the team continued to push on. With the speed of play going up – Warriors couldn’t match the pace and skills from our players. We won this quarter by a
blistering 24- 4 goals. Ellie and Zaneya were just too strong in our defending circle winning interceptions
everywhere! Beth and Summer speed on transition into attack was really slick – and Daisy; Hannah and
Coco showed their attacking understanding and connections with Daisy and Hannah putting great volume of balls into Coco. Temi came on for the last few minutes of the quarter and helped continue to the good
defensive work.

Pulse won the game 68-35 and at the end of the match we all ran together to celebrate winning this
Championship- remaining unbeaten all season.

Our thanks to our coaches Sharron and Fran and our Team Manager Julie. Our whole squad are truly
grateful for the coaching and care we receive. We did it!
Total team shooting stats 68/73 93%
OPOM Hannah Gibson
Coaches player went to the whole squad

U17 Match Report by Ava Patterson

Pulse U17s went into their last fixture knowing a win would mean they they secured the NPL South silver medal. After two wins in a row, the squad was feeling confident in their training.

Starting 7
GS Mia
GA Ella
WA Ash
C Brogan
WD Katie
GD Evie L
GK Christine

Impact players: Holly, Sophie, Evie S, Ava, Ella BB

Q1:London Pulse 17-10 Seven stars

With interchanges between Christine at GK and Katie at WD, the pattern changed to provide pressure on the star’s attack. Evie Light, a turnover machine in recent games, once again boosted the defence unit by putting stars under pressure. A clear transition across the court played an important role in getting the game off to a good start.

Ava P entered the court at WD, adding to the pulse of defensive pressure and keeping the WA high.

Mia PB and Ella connected well in attack and Stars struggled to find an answer to the height and speed.

Q2: London Pulse 39-16 Seven Stars

Evie S started the second quarter at Gk. The defensive unit is powerful, denying stars space and movement, which caused them to commit several errors. The magnetic link between Brogan and Mia PB, as well as Ella C, the attacking unit in possession, continues to stretch the score. Ella BB makes her appearance at WD. Pulse won the quarter 22-6.

Q3: London Pulse 53-25 Seven Stars

There was no let-up in the second half, as those on the bench demonstrated their desire to show off their abilities. Entering at GD-Ava P, Evie L inspired a scorching run, winning a host of balls in defence; Pulse carried the momentum to win silver medals. Pulse was unfazed by all of Stars’ adjustments and finished with a triumph that earned them the silver medals.

Q4: London Pulse 67-29 Seven Stars

U21 Match Report by Regan Peters

On the weekend Pulse u21s travelled to Nottingham for the final round of the NPL season to face a strong central warriors side after a fantastic win against North East last week. Going into the weekend Pulse u21s were one of the many teams in the league in competition for securing the bronze medal.

Starting 7:
Ali
Regan
Hannah K
Izzi
Rudee
Darcie
Tami

The first quarter started with a Central warriors CP allowing them to put the first point on the scoreboard after some immediate pressure from Pulse. Following that pulse secured their first goal however were not able to get into the flow of the game. Despite some great passages of play and displays of defence from Pulse, Central Warriors built up their lead before ending the quarter beating Pulse 7-9

To start the second quarter, changes were made in the shooting circle seeing Elsie come on to make an impact as GS. The initial impact of the fresh attacking unit boosted the team, enabling them to turn the tables and shut down Warriors’ lead and take on one of their own, winning the first 5minutes of Q2 6-1, (13-10). However, due to team errors and pressure from central warriors, Pulse ended the quarter 2 goals behind the opposition, 18-20.

Third quarter, Princess came onto GK putting insane amounts of pressure on the strong Warriors GS, with Darcie moving down to WD and Tami to GD. With some miscommunications, simple errors and tough umpiring calls, Pulse weren’t able to replicate the start of Q2 and remained behind ending the quarter 24-31.

With a lot of work to be done in the final 15 minutes of the game the squad were ready to go and show everyone all that they had. Alice came onto WA with her speed and commitment on drives making an immediate impact opening up the attack. Unfortunately the team were not able to pull away and ended the game with a 41-33 loss to Central Warriors. Despite the loss, all the coaches and the were proud of the efforts put in by everyone throughout the season and are ready to continue working to make a mark at the NPL tournament in July.

Opponents player of the match went the Regan
Coaches player(s) of the match went to Alice and Princess