‘No mercy’ as Pulse start title defence with win

February 28, 2026 No Comments

‘No mercy’ as Pulse start title defence with winImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Funmi Fadoju and her London Pulse team-mates took control against Manchester Thunder as the game wore onBySimon ArmstrongBBC SportPublished23 minutes ago4 Comments

London Pulse showed a “no-mercy mindset” as they got their Netball Super League title defence off to a winning start with a 56-51 victory over Manchester Thunder at the Copper Box Arena.

Having been edged out in last week’s season-opening Netball Super Cup final by Loughborough Lightning, a dominant third and fourth-quarter showing enabled the home side to stretch out what had been a two-point lead at the halfway point.

Player of the match Halimat Adio hailed Pulse’s “slick” display.

“It’s crazy to say it, but we had a no-mercy mentality today,” she reported. “We want to finish off where we finished off last season.

“We want to win and we have to start that from the get-go. I think everyone did that.

“Obviously last week was really disappointing for us, but there are building blocks.

“This year the teams are really, really strong. So we need to do our homework and I think we’ll be all good.”

Pulse coach Sam Bird reported the game had “ebbed and flowed” with Thunder scores in the last two minutes narrowing the gap to grab a league table point for finishing within five points of their opponents.

Bird’s Thunder counterpart, Karen Greig, predicted it would be “a good two or three rounds” before her side find their feet despite “lots of positives”.