VNSL 2022 Round 13 Match Report – Wasps 38 Pulse 44
Starting 7 today Liv, Sacha, Alicia, Tayla, Zara, Jas, Lindsay
Q1
A change to last week’s starting line up with Alicia Scholes getting her first start of the season, and she feeds the first goal from Liv. A shaky first 5 minutes from both sides but Pulse start to play with confidence and lead 2-4 at this point. Fantastic work from the defensive unit of Lindsay, Jaz and Zara taking tips and forcing errors from the Wasps side. Wasps then start to play with a little more freedom and start to work the ball through court with more speed, bringing the score back to 6-6. Fast shooter to shooter play in the Pulse circle combined with excellent defensive play at the other end, and you can feel the confidence starting to rise in the Pulse team despite the close scoreline. Pulse end the quarter with a slim lead
Score 9-10
Q2
No changes for the Pulse side as the 7 are starting to find their feet in this game. Pulse get to a flying start in this quarter, quickly pushing the lead out to 10-13. Liss and Tayla getting all the time they need to feed the circle but we can’t extend the lead further. Big mid court fly from Zara reminds Wasps that our defense are everywhere. Attacking mistakes from Wasps enable Pulse to fly through court with the ball and fancy footwork from Liv see the lead out to 6 goals 14-20.
Wasps aren’t lying down though and pull the differential back to 3 by the end of the quarter, a last second tip from Lindsay stopping it dropping to 2.
Score 18-21
Q3
Changes for Q3 – Dekker to C.
Pulse taking a bit of time to settle in this quarter but great feeding from Ash and amazing core strength from Liv takes the lead out to 4. No one can grab hold of the momentum though with it swinging from one team to the other.
Mid quarter changes see Kira on at GA and Jayda on at GD. A few minutes of the teams going goal for goal and then the momentum swings a little in favour of wasps with the gap shortening to just one goal.
A huge tip from Ash and the momentum is back in Pulse’s favour. The whistle is blown before the buzzer and so Pulse’s final goal does not count!
The quarter is drawn and ends with Pulse 3 up. A huge final quarter ahead.
Score 28-31
Q4
Tayla reenters the court at C and Ash moves to WA.
First couple of Pulse goals for the Q go to Kira – a fantastic baseline drive lands the first and a shot from distance the 2nd. Still nothing can split the teams for the quarter though as it goes goal for goal.
The turnovers flip flopping from one team to the other as both teams work hard to gain the momentum. A quick 3 seconds on the Pulse attack sees Wasps capitalise and bring the scores level – 34-34.
Wasps squander the opportunity to take the lead and Liv scores at the other end – Pulse regain the lead.
Mid quarter changes – Ellie to WD, Zara to GD, Jayda to GK and Sacha to GA.
Immediate impact felt from the injection of fresh legs – goal at one end and then a vital tip from Jayda at GK.
This one is going down to the wire – 5 minutes to go and Pulse lead 36-38.
A tip from Everitt, picked up by Jayda enables Pulse to work to a goal from Liv and the lead pushes out to 4 – 37-41.
With two minutes left on the clock Pulse know they have the momentum and they lift their level again – the matches ends with Pulse taking a 6 goal win.
Final score 38-44 as Pulse get back to winning ways.
PoM: Ash Dekker
Sam Bird: “It’s really important to grind these wins out. We’ve had a couple of matches without points and points are important. These are the games that really matter. The experience this young squad gets from learning to hold their nerve under pressure is just what they need. It’s fantastic to see them push on an take the win.”
Thank you so much to all of our London pulse supporters who made the journey to Brum and to our sponsors for their amazing support of our team. We go again Sunday at 5:15PM v Mavericks