Saturday 7th June marked one of the Netball Super League’s biggest showdowns between the 2nd and 3rd placed teams, London Pulse and Manchester Thunder. The fixture was Thunder’s last home game of the regular season with the team already clinching a spot in the league’s play-offs beginning Friday 20th June. With only three points separating the two teams, the match was described as a ‘must-win fixture for Thunder’, making the stakes that much higher.
Upon arrival at Belle Vue Sports Village in Gorton, the atmosphere was palpable. The entrance to the Leisure Centre was filled with food vendors, drinks stalls and various other activities such as face painting and netball related mini games. Vast crowds were sporting the signature Thunder colours, yellow and black. Most notably, the wide range of demographics at the game demonstrates the growth of Netball in the UK. From families to young people to the elderly, the game had attracted people from every age group.
Credit: Andrea Finlay @ The Mancunion
As the spectators filed into the arena ahead of the 5pm start, it became apparent there was not a free seat in the house and to no surprise: these teams were amongst the best in the league. Of the 12 games played in the regular season, Pulse had won ten and lost two with Thunder winning nine and losing three thus the game was set to be very close. London Pulse have built on their impressive 2023/24 campaign, with Goal Shooter Olivia Tchine and Goal Defence Fumi Fadoju playing pivotal roles throughout this season. Fadoju is the league’s leader in interceptions, 31 this season, and deflections, 119, with her teammate Halimat Adio in second place with 56 deflections. On the attacking end, Tchine boasts an 87% shooting accuracy with 415 goals to her name and 28 rebounds; the highest rebound rate for any shooter in the league.
In the other attacking circle was Thunder’s starting Goal Shooter, Elmere Van Der Berg. The South African international is the NSL’s leading goal scorer this season with 446 goals in 13 appearances. Van Der Berg also capitalises on the newest feature of the game, the Super Shot, with over 83 this season. Paige Reed, a versatile Goal Attack made her third appearance for Thunder. In defence, Josie Huckle started at Goal Keeper with 17 interceptions this season and 38 deflections. Nicola Smith started at Goal Defence alongside former University of Manchester alumni, Taylor Mckevitt at WD. In mid-court, captain Amy Carter started at Centre and Emma Rayner at WA with each player racking up 306 and 246 feeds into the attacking circle respectively. The stage was set and the atmosphere ramped up with orchestrated drums and horns being blared throughout the arena before the first centre pass.
It was clear from the get-go that Manchester Thunder has a distinct presence in the local community with several local netball clubs from all corners of Greater Manchester (Thameside Netball Club, Didsbury Netball Club and Oldham Netball Club) invited to the game. Between each quarter, local cheerleading team from Northwich, Apex Cheer put on a dangerous, enthralling performance to maintain the roaring atmosphere inside the Centre. Young girls and boys were dressed from head-to-toe in Thunder kit, faces painted with glittery lightning bolts and were no doubt some of the most vocal supporters in my stand. However, the most vocal… an elderly gentleman next to me who spent the game shouting out knowledgeable, tactical changes and getting heavily involved in the Manchester Thunder chants. A true sign of the diverse and growing crowd that the NSL is attracting.
Credit: Andrea Finlay @ The Mancunion
The first centre pass was taken and Pulse established their dominance early on. After seven successive goals, it felt as though the game was already slipping away from Thunder in the beginnings of the first 15 minutes. However, Thunder fought back through some great defence work in the mid-court and began to establish a rhythm in time for the last minutes of the quarter, triggering the Super Shot. The Super Shot is a new addition to the NSL this season whereby if a GS or GA scores a goal from the designated Super Shot zone, 1.90m-3.50m away from the post, the goal counts as two points. The first quarter finished 10-17 to London Pulse as they capitalised more from the super shot than Thunder. The second quarter got under way and Thunder took back momentum with several turnovers in quick succession. Two minutes from the end, the score was 23-25 to Pulse who, clearly feeling the pressure, called a timeout. 24-27 was the halftime score and the crowd was feeling optimistic for a Thunder comeback.
Quarter Three. Pulse dominate the mid-court, moving the ball down at thundering speed and with GS Tchine rarely missing a shot. Thunder call a time out at 30-36 as the lead begins to extend from their grasp. Yet again, the Super Shot works in Pulse’s favour and the quarter ends 37-44. For those non-netball fans, a seven goal deficit is not impossible to recover from given the fast-paced nature of the game and the alternating centre passes. Thunder would only require four turnovers and convert each of their own centre passes to equalise. With the Super Shot, it would have been possible for Thunder to take the lead with four converted Super Shot goals. Despite initial criticism of the new rule, it is evident how it contributes to the excitement of a netball game and shows just how quickly the momentum can shift.
Final Quarter. Thunder were throwing every at the London Pulse mid-court and defence, provoking several turnovers and sending Pulse players to ground with rapid footwork and quick, agile movement. The atmosphere hit its climax in the final quarter with the majority of the crowd on their feet, willing the ball down court to goal. However, the defensive duo of London Pulse held strong creating an inpenetrable wall into the circle for Thunder’s attack and their physicality led to multiple intercepts. With a minute to go, the score is 48-56 to Pulse but the Super Shot is well and truly enforced so Thunder needed only four goals to equalise. Yet, the Pulse wall strikes again and the ball goes backdown court to the dismay of the crowd. The game ends 48-58 to London Pulse.
Credit: Andrea Finlay @ The Mancunion
The Player of the Match went to Mancheser Thunder GK Nicola Smith who thanked the crowd for the tremendous support and noted how the atmosphere had spurred the team on throughout the toughest points in the match. Following a cool-down session on court and media interviews with Sky Sports and BBC Sport, each of the Thunder and Pulse players made their way to the sidelines to speak to fans. They signed t-shirts, balls and took smiling photographs with every fan that asked. I saw every demographic possible requesting a picture with the players from young girls aspiring to meet their hereos to older adults wearing Thunder t-shirts. Spirits remained high and the party atmosphere continued throughout the arena for an hour after the game had ended. The merchandise queue remained lengthy the entirety of the day with the vendor telling me that he had sold out of everything he had by 7pm.
Despite a Thunder loss, the game was exciting, tense and overall an extremely enjoyable evening out. As a lifelong netball fan and mediocre player, it is rewarding to see the public truly get involved in netball as they would other sports. After speaking to Manchester Thunder in February about the professionalisation of the league, I was enthusiastic about witnessing the Belle Vue atmosphere in person. It is clear that netball is growing at an extremely rapid rate in the country with individuals from all walks of life getting involved. The sport that was once deemed ‘boring to watch’ has attracted loyal fanbases willing to travel from London to Manchester on a Saturday evening for a game. A lot can be learnt from the way the NSL and England Netball have adapted the sport to make it as appealing as possible to non-netball aficionados. The workrate and dedication from this elite group of players should receive the upmost praise and reward with the majority of players balancing their netball with full-time careers on the side. Complete professionalisation of the sport will no doubt allow the game to grow above and beyond all expectations.
The Netball Super League Play-Offs kick off on Saturday 21st June until the Grand Final at the 02 Arena in London on Sunday 6th July. Tickets available here.
