Match Report: Round 9 Severn Stars v London Pulse

Following a strong performance against Wasps on Sunday, Pulse went into the second match of their double header weekend on Monday ready to provide a full match performance and take the win against Severn Stars.

Having made a strong impact on Sunday, Rademan and Drayne earned themselves a spot in the starting line up.  With the quarter going goal for goal in the first few minutes, pressure from the Pulse defensive unit enabled Pulse to make the break needed to take control.  This was not just an awesome defensive display though – the attack were firing with Rademan driving the baseline at the speed of light and the mid court feeding her and Burger with ease.  Pulse went into the first break 7-12 in front.

There were no changes to the line-up going into the second and with Pulse’s game plan paying dividends in all areas of the court this was the quarter of big feeds into the circle, defensive intercepts from Everitt and Adio and near perfect shooting. Stars were restricted to 5 goals in the 2nd Q whilst Pulse put another 12 on the board. Halftime score – 12-24

This was most definitely a game of two halves. Pulse started the 3rd quarter unchanged and the defensive wall of Everitt, Adio and Fadoju ((with Keable entering mid quarter) was in full force.  Some mistakes began to creep in this quarter with the difference between the teams remaining at around 10 throughout the quarter.  As the buzzer went we headed into the final quarter leading 23-33.

There were no changes at the start of the quarter with Dekker and Rothwell entering during the course of play.  All that was left was to finish out the game. Stars did not give up though and piled on the pressure.  This quarter continued to provide moments of brilliance from the Pulse defence and attack but the error rate crept up more than the coaching team would have liked.  The squad held strong though and ground out a much needed and deserved win 36-41.

Sam Bird had this to say: “It’s been clear for a while that the Pulse defence can win ball, but the attacking unit stepped up with an over 80% CP to goal in the first half and shooting accuracy at over 95%.  That complete court performance in the first half is something we intend to replicate with any combination we put out.”

PoM was awarded to Halimat Adio.