NSL RD3: LONDON PULSE vs LOUGHBOROUGH LIGHTNING – MATCH PREVIEW
Who – Loughborough Lightning
When – Saturday March 2, 19:00pm
Where – Copper Box Arena, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
Loughborough Lightning are the visitors for London Pulse’s first home game of the Netball Superleague season, as the team return to the familiar surroundings of the Copper Box Arena for the first time in 2024. With a Pulse record breaking crowd of over 3,500 fans due in, it’s set to be a cauldron inside the Copper Box on Saturday.
After last week’s repeat of the 2023 semi-final against Surrey Storm, it is deja-vu again only this time it’s last season’s Grand Final for Sam Bird and her squad – a team that Pulse achieved a league double over on the way to topping the regular season table.
Manchester Thunder on the road in Nottingham at Season Opener and an away game against Storm always represented a tough start, and that gets even tougher when the defending champions arrive in the capital.
Lightning have started with two wins from two games, and top the very early Superleague standings. With 146 goals, including 86 last time out against Bath, the relentless Lightning attack against Pulse’s trademark fearsome defence will be worth the admission price.
Of course nothing will be decided on Saturday night in front of a near sellout crowd, but with the Sky Sports cameras in town – the game is live from 6.55pm on YouTube – it represents a high profile Round 3 occasion.
There’s plenty to look forward to, and as always a chance to go up against one of the best teams in the competition is a great measuring stick – but Bird is eager to point out there is plenty to come from this team this season
“Three tough fixtures to open up, with no real pre season is a challenge but myself and the staff are looking at progressive performances.
“As long as we are progressing on the things we need to improve on that is good enough for where we need to be at this point of the season
“When you lose someone like Lindsay [Keable], someone that has been in the squad for a long time and just being older you miss players like that.
“We have got a young group. Jade [Clarke] is very experienced but the rest are pretty green. It becomes a two part battle, to recognise what you need to improve on and then have the player roster be able to implement it.
“Because they are such a talented group, once the penny drops for them, nine times out of ten they are able to implement the strategy and that is a luxury for us as coaches.”
Sam Bird
Round 2 saw the perfect response as Pulse delivered on several levels. A fast start saw the players put into practice what had been worked on and analysed across the week.
And then, following the arrival of Proscovia Peace and a different set of attacking questions, Pulse found more answers.
“My initial feeling through the game, and after it, was of improvement and having gone through some really comprehensive stats from our analysis team, it showed the things we had tried to work on had happened,” Bird shared.
“I was really pleased with those improvements, those connections, the depth and just being more physical in defence. We won ball all over the court, including from the attackers and we had good full court defence.
“The progress we made in a week in terms of our connections was really good, it’s now seeing if we can stay that disciplined and that connected in potentially a tougher game.”
And so to Lightning, an experienced squad has lost a couple of faces in England captain Fran Williams, and talented Roses Futures shooter Emma Thacker.
However South African defender Nicola Smith has slotted in seamlessly, while Ella Clark has returned from injury and Rhea Dixon has taken on an extra load in the shooting circle. They may look a little different, but the challenge is still a big one.
“The reality is they have got a slightly different team, so have we. We’ve both had players getting experience while away on international duty and this is a new season.
“I don’t want the team to lose sight of the fact we beat them twice in the league last season so to focus on the loss would be a bit of a distraction.
“We are in Week 3 of training, we’ve had the other top four teams as our three fixtures and that is a tough gig – Loughborough are part of it.
“We have to keep sight of that, and that this group has a lot of growth and improvement to come. But I think it would be foolish to ignore any feelings from last season – we all have them.
“It will be a great match, the two finalists meeting again. But we are only in Round 3. It’s not to replay the final, but to play as we are this season and recognise that we are at the beginning of where we want to be and not the end.”
THE OPPONENTS – LOUGHBOROUGH LIGHTNING
Head Coach: Vic Burgess
Last Season: Champions (beat London Pulse in Grand Final)
Last Time Out – Won 83-46 v Team Bath (H), Round 2
History – NSL stalwarts, having been been founder members of the competition in 2005-06 – reached their first final two seasons later and have not looked back. However, it is in recent years they have stamped their authority on the competition as almost ever-presents in the top four.
They have reached five of the last six Grand Finals, and after losing on their first two trips to the season finale claimed a long overdue first title with victory over Team Bath in 2021. Lost to Manchester Thunder in the 2022 Grand Final before claiming their second title with a win over London Pulse in 2023.
New for 2024 – Consistency keeps Lightning in the mix year after year, so as ever it was only subtle tweaks to the squad during the signing window. Fran Williams has joined West Coast Fever in Australia, but Nicola Smith has slotted in seamlessly. Beth Cobden’s welcome return from injury has bolstered the defensive end. In attack Niamh McCall has arrived from Sirens, and alongside Ella Clark – also back from injury – gives the squad attacking depth.
Last Time Out – Won 83-46 v Team Bath (Home). Starting Seven: GK – Harvey, GD – Smith; WD – Cobden; C – Panagarry; WA – Joseph; GA – Dixon; GS – Cholhok.
Squad – Alice Harvey, Jade Popoola, Nicola Smith, Beth Cobden, Annabel Roddy, Nat Panagarry, Bella Baylis, Hannah Joseph, Niamh McCall, Ella Clark, Mary Cholhok.
HEAD TO HEAD
Played – 10; London Pulse – 2. Loughborough Lightning – 8.
Lightning took the honours in last season’s Grand Final, but that came after a brilliant London Pulse double during the regular season.
A hugely impressive 55-49 Round 9 win at the Sir David Wallace Arena had given Pulse their first ever win over Loughborough.
And that was followed up with a thrilling 61-58 win at the Copper Box to complete a first ever double over the Midlands outfit.
Last 5 meetings
NSL Grand Final, 2023 – London Pulse 48-57 Loughborough Lightning
Round 19, 2023 – London Pulse 61-58 Loughborough Lightning
Round 9, 2023 – Loughborough Lightning 49-55 London Pulse
NSL Semi-Final, 2022 – Loughborough Lightning 56-44 London Pulse
Round 11, 2022 – London Pulse 44-64 Loughborough Lightning