A NEW era began in British netball with the Netball Super League (NSL) NXT Gen League kicking off over the weekend. The eight sides went head-to-head with a couple of one-goal thrillers among two big victories.
ROUND 1 RESULTS
Team Bath vs Nottingham Forest
Team Bath picked up the first win of the weekend, after defeating newbies Nottingham Forest 62 goals to 53. It was a pretty close game for much of the match, with only two goals separating the sides at the final charge. But, Bath pulled away a bit in the last term to take the win.
Manchester Thunder vs Cardiff Dragons
The Thunder picked up the biggest win of the win of the weekend, which is saying something when the margin was only 10 goals. The Thunder established a solid buffering in the first half, and pulled away even further in the second half to win 60 goals to 50.
London Pulse vs Loughborough Lightning
In the equal smallest margin of the weekend, the Pulse emerged victorious over the Pulse 53 goals to 52. It was actually the Lightning who led by two goals at the main break, but the Pulse were able to turn things around in the second half and pinch the win.
Birmingham Panthers vs Leeds Rhinos
In the other nail-biter of the weekend, the Birmingham Panthers picked up their first win as an entity, beating Leeds Rhinos 44-43.
LADDER AFTER ROUND 1
P | W | D | L | + | – | +/- | GA | Pts | ||
1 | Manchester Thunder | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 50 | 10 | 1.20 | 3 |
2 | Team Bath | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 53 | 9 | 1.17 | 3 |
3 | Birmingham Panthers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 43 | 1 | 1.02 | 3 |
4 | London Pulse | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 52 | 1 | 1.02 | 3 |
5 | Loughborough Lightning | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 52 | 53 | -1 | 0.98 | 1 |
6 | Leeds Rhinos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 44 | -1 | 0.98 | 1 |
7 | Nottingham Forest | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 53 | 62 | -9 | 0.85 | 0 |
8 | Cardiff Dragons | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 60 | -10 | 0.83 | 0 |
9 | London Mavericks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
ROUND 2 FIXTURE
Team Bath v Cardiff Dragons – Friday at 7pm – Sports Training Village at University of Bath
Manchester Thunder v London Mavericks – Saturday at 12:30pm – Platt Lane Sports Complex, Manchester
London Pulse v Birmingham Panthers – Saturday at 2pm – The Score, Leyton, London
Leeds Rhinos v Loughborough Lightning – Saturday at 3:30pm – Huddersfield University