London Pulse top Netball Super League as Geva Mentor bows out
Pulse were comfortable winners in the Welsh capital, ensuring they finished in first place ahead of Loughborough Lightning who were beaten away at Birmingham Panthers.
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Manchester Thunder warmed up for their minor semi-final against London Mavericks with a win over the same opponents at OVO Arena, while Nottingham Forest finished their inaugural season with a triumph over NIC Leeds Rhinos, as netball legend Geva Mentor bowed out from the elite game.
Pulse seal top spot
London Pulse sealed top spot in the Netball Super League regular season with a comfortable 67-44 win over LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons.
Pulse led from the front in the Welsh capital and never let their opponents get within touching distance after the first quarter, pushing out to a 16-goal lead at the break thanks to a 19-7 second quarter.
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Dragons continued to push hard to get back into the contest, and took the third quarter by two, but it was not enough despite the efforts of Jacqui Newton, who took four rebounds, four gains and two intercepts.
At the other end, Funmi Fadoju once again shone with seven gains for Pulse as they prepared for Friday's major final against Loughborough Lightning in good form.
Thunder take down Mavericks
Manchester Thunder beat London Mavericks 67-45 at the OVO Arena, ahead of the sides' minor semi-final on Friday.
The two clubs will meet again in a winner-takes-all clash in Manchester, and Karen Greig's side landed the first blow in London to end the regular season in style.
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Elmere van der Berg top-scored for Thunder, with the South African picking up strong connections with the returning Paige Reed and Lois Pearson.
'It was a really tough game,' said Van der Berg. 'We still didn't give our best that we can put out our best on court, but I am glad we could grind through and take the win.'
Pearson was making her first appearance of the season after returning from injury, while Mavericks welcomed George Inger back to the Netball Super League after a lengthy lay-off and a four-year spell in New Zealand.
A youthful Mavericks side also gave a debut to goalkeeper Neve Wright, while NXT Gen player Cerys Finn started in the defensive circle and Camilla Buchanan believes there is more to come from her side next week.
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She said: 'The debuts that we managed to get out there were brilliant. There were moments we really stuck to task, our first and second phase defence was really strong. We slowed Thunder down.
'It will be a different game next week, the score at this point is irrelevant.'
Panthers end on a high
Birmingham Panthers closed out their inaugural season with a 67-58 victory over semi-finalists Loughborough Lightning.
Lightning will face London Pulse in the major semi-final next Friday, but their preparations were dealt a blow as they were beaten by an in-form Panthers side at the Utilita Arena.
NXT Gen player Antonia Mitchell top-scored in the circle with 42 goals, as Panthers' shooting success rate ultimately proved key.
Michelle Magee and Jasmine Brown shone in the circle as Panthers pulled clear in the second quarter and held onto their lead to give departing head coach Jo Trip a winning send off.
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Magee earned four gains and three rebounds, while Brown produced three gains, two intercepts and five rebounds in a stellar defensive display.
Rhinos can't cut Forest down
Nottingham Forest ended their first-ever campaign with a come-from-behind 80-61 win over NIC Leeds Rhinos in the final round of the regular season.
The result sees Forest finish fifth in the table while Rhinos end the campaign in seventh.
The side from West Yorkshire ended the first quarter leading 18-13 with Joyce Mvula looking good early on in the circle.
But the home side fought back brilliantly during the second quarter through some fine finishing from Rolene Streutker.
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Forest where then able to create a sizable buffer during the next two quarters as they capped off what ultimately proved a comfortable victory.
Streutker was the top scorer for Forest with 35 goals and their win can largely be attributed down to their dominance in the Soft & Gentle Super Shot department, outscoring Rhinos 18-8.
It was also Geva Mentor's last-ever game of netball before her retirement. The 40-year-old called an end to her illustrious career, which includes a Commonwealth Games gold medal, a Netball World Cup silver medal and two Netball Super League titles in 2006 and 2007 with Team Bath, after over two decades on court.
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