Preseason Match Report: Tri Tournament – London Pulse, Team Bath & Saracens Mavericks
London Pulse vs Team Bath
Last weekend saw the London Pulse side head down to Bath for the preseason tri-tournament against Team Bath and Saracens Mavericks. An exciting opportunity to see the team go head-to-head with two strong NSL sides in the run up to the 2023 season. However, on this occasion the roster looked slightly different. A recent short-term injury saw Chelsea Pitman assisting on the bench and the likes of Kalea Stagg and Lewis Keeling (Knights Netball) joining the team. With Berri Neil away captaining the London Pulse U21 side and Sacha McDonald still over in Australia, Olivia Tchine was our only NSL shooter available to take to court. Halimat Adio was also unavailable but is making great progress through her rehab.
The starting seven against Team Bath were: (4x 10 minutes)
GS- Olivia Tchine
GA- Ashleigh Dekker
WA- Alicia Scholes
C- Jade Clarke
WD- Zara Everitt
GD- Funmi Fadoju
GK- Lindsay Keable
Substitutions: Ellie Rattu, Lewis Keeling and Kalea Stagg
Pulse got off to a strong start and dominated the first couple of minutes. Despite some uncharacteristic errors in attack, the whole team’s defensive work did not disappoint and rewarded them with the 11-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Heading into the second quarter, Rattu entered the game at C and the team continued to build on their lead. With some beautiful shooting from Tchine and tight unit defence work from Keable, Fadoju and Everitt, Pulse took the score to 20-9 by halftime.
The third quarter saw lots of changes: Keeling and Stagg entered the shooting circle with Dekker at WA, Clarke to WD and Everitt to GD. However, Team Bath made some changes too and came back hard. The opposition’s defence stepped it up a gear and stole them some important turnover which won them that quarter by 1.
The final 10 minutes consisted of a whole new line up; Tchine back to GS, Stagg staying at GA, Scholes back on at WA, Clarke back in the middle, Rattu to WD, Fadoju to GD and Keeling to GK. The game seemed to be going goal for goal, however, the attacking movement to exploit the width of the court and the strong defensive pressure proved that the 10 goals Pulse had put between them was too much for Team Bath to overcome. The final score, 36-26 to London Pulse.
London Pulse vs Saracens Mavericks
After a short 15-minute break, Pulse had to regroup and focus their gaze on their next opponents, Saracens Mavericks.
The starting seven against Saracens Mavericks were: (4x 10 minutes)
GS- Olivia Tchine
GA- Ashleigh Dekker
WA- Alicia Scholes
C- Jade Clarke
WD- Zara Everitt
GD- Funmi Fadoju
GK- Lindsay Keable
Substitutions: Ellie Rattu, Lewis Keeling and Kalea Stagg
Head Coach Sam Bird decided to stick with the same starting seven for the second match and the substitutions throughout the game also remained unchanged.
Mavericks had fresh legs and came out firing with great speed around the court, taking an early lead of 7-2 with 6 minutes left. Pulse had to respond and the pressure of Keable and Fadoju in the circle forced an error and sparked the Pulse comeback. The team’s defensive effort again proved successful and Everitt took the intercept to win them another turnover, closing the 5-goal gap to 2. With less than 30 seconds to go, Scholes and Dekker double teamed to turn over a Mavericks centre pass and take the end of quarter score to 10-11.
Keable started quarter two off with an interception outside of the circle and Pulse started to play with some more confidence. Despite having the opportunity to push ahead multiple times, the score line was only ever separated by one or two goals. With 4 seconds to go, Pulse managed to win the ball in the defensive circle and get it to goal in just 2 passes drawing them level with the Hertfordshire side going into half time.
Quarter three saw a lot back and forth between teams with both sides turning the ball over and often struggling to convert it. The momentum never seemed to fall with one side, but there were lovely moments of play where Pulse looked really well gelled and in control. The same can be said for the opposition side too. This quarter ended with Pulse leading 32-31.
Much like previous quarters, the final quarter was a continuation of intense goal for goal play. Improvements in Pulse’s movement and route to goal was visible, however there were still too many unforced errors which allowed Mavericks to stay at their heels. Both teams battled right to the last whistle and Mavericks had the chance to draw level but a footwork call meant that Pulse ended up on the right side of the score taking the 40-39 victory.
To reflect, it was a promising day of netball for Pulse; two victories earning them the title of tournament champions and the opportunity for the team to trial out some different combinations against their future opposition.