VNSL Match Report: London Pulse 52 – Team Bath 48

London Pulse were hoping for a positive showing after their first round performance. Quarter one started off well with two EARLY INTERCEPTIONS from Odeogberin and Dekker, giving them a one-goal advantage. The defence of London pulse was on fire.

Team Bath’s attack was attempting to figure out how to deal with the stubborn combination of Funmi Fadoju and Jas Odeogberin in the circle. The quarter ended with a London pulse score of 12-9.

The outstanding Funmi Fadoju got a fantastic soaring intercept to start the following quarter, setting the tone for London Pulse. The defence of Team Bath did not miss a beat and continued to make life difficult for our attackers. With a 5-goal lead midway through the third quarter, Team Bath switched to Betsy Creak at GS as a substitution for Kim Borger.

London Pulse’s attacks became slicker as the quarter continued. Liv receives the ball from Rothwell and blasted it in the goal, widening the gap to 11.

In the third quarter, Team Bath used a new sauce. They weren’t about to give up without a fight. Layla Guscoth and Molly Hole’s tenacious defence was putting the Pulse attack under a lot of strain. Samantha Bird, on the other hand, had complete faith in her decisions and began attacking aggressively in order to cross the finish line.

Bath’s offence began to adjust to the pulse defence. The Creak and Drakeford-Lewis combination made a lot of sense. Jayda Pechova, making her debut at just 17, hit the floor against Team Bath, and boy did she show up. Pechova had three interceptions after just five minutes on the court, prompting Team Bath to summon Borger back onto the court. The heat was been turned up to eleven.

Both London Pulse and Team Bath has a big final quarter, but London Pulse had the upper hand. Bath threw everything they had at London Pulse, and a strong defence from Layla Guscoth finally closed the margin to one goal. With four minutes remaining, both teams were on equal footing.

But Pulse cranked it up a notch and went on a three-goal streak, gradually widening the deficit. With 20 seconds left, Oliva Tchine shot her final goal for a 52-48 victory for London Pulse.

Head Coach and CEO, Sam Bird had this to say: “Absolutely brilliant to win today, delighted for this group of players because they have started to believe they can do this. They’ve stopped talking about being potentials as they know actually they can go out and do it.”

POM Funmi Fadoju

Debut – Jayda Pechova – #36