Thunder beat Panthers to close in on play-off berthImage source, England NetballImage caption, Manchester Thunder have lost just two of their 10 games this seasonByMike PeterBBC Sport journalistPublished2 May 2026Updated 1 hour agoManchester Thunder moved a step closer to clinching a play-off spot in the Netball Super League with a confident 69-45 win over Birmingham Panthers.Thunder raced out of the blocks at Belle Vue in Manchester, storming to a 9-0 lead before Panthers regrouped with a tactical timeout and found some rhythm.However, they could not match Thunder’s scoring consistency and a ninth defeat of the season leaves them bottom of the standings with just three points.Karen Greig’s Thunder side stay in third and remain in a strong position to qualify in the top four for the end of season play-offs.”Our word today was execute. Go and execute them with our execution,” Greig stated.”We know there’s going to be opportunities as we go into these last four rounds where we need to make sure we are happy in possession and take the opportunities where they are. “That’s something we are going to keep pushing towards.”Eleanor Caldwell led the scoring for Thunder with 27 goals and three rebounds. They are now 12 points clear of fifth-placed London Mavericks with four games remaining.Thunder’s Natalie Metcalf stated: “The girls put on an awesome performance. The Panthers ran us really hard so it was quite tiring, but… we’re looking to get that four-quarter performance and I think we were a bit closer to that today.”Image source, Ben LumleyImage caption, London Pulse’s sole defeat was a 68-61 defeat to Loughborough Lightning in mid-MarchOn Sunday, London Pulse closed the gap at the top of the table with a 75-71 win over previously unbeaten leaders Loughborough Lightning.The two teams now have identical records of nine wins and one defeat, with Pulse suffering their only loss to Lightning in round three.The East Midlands side now lead the table by a single bonus point, with four rounds of fixtures remaining before the play-offs.Lightning’s Ella Clark scored 36 goals in the match, but it was Pulse’s Liv Tchine who dominated proceedings, scoring 24 goals and eight rebounds to lead her side to victory.In Saturday’s games, LexisNexis Dragons recorded a third win of the season with a tight 65-64 victory over Nottingham Forest.Georgia Rowe top-scored with 35 goals for Dragons as they completed the double over their opponents, having beaten them away in round six.Rolene Streutker scored 31 goals for Forest, but was unable to prevent the fourth-placed side slipping to defeat.London Mavericks, who are fifth, closed the gap on Forest to six points with a 63-60 win at NIC Leeds Rhinos.George Inger and Emily Andrew scored 27 and 22 goals respectively for Mavericks as they bounced back from defeat by Manchester Thunder last week.Paige Reed was Rhinos’ top-scorer with 20, and her side remain seventh having won just once all season.Image source, Netball Super LeagueImage caption, Of the four meetings between Dragons and Nottingham Forest, the latter won the first two matches while the Welsh side have triumphed in the two just in encountersHow to follow 2026 Netball Super League on BBC SportBBC Sport will show one game per week during the regular season.These are the games you can watch live on the BBC Sport website and iPlayer (UK only, all times BST):9 May: Nottingham Forest v London Mavericks (15:00)15 May: Loughborough Lightning v Nottingham Forest (19:00)24 May: London Pulse v Dragons (17:00)Related topicsNetball
