Team Bath Netball, Manchester Thunder, Saracens Mavericks and Severn Stars also victorious on a busy opening day; the 'Season Opener' weekend continues at 12.15pm on Sunday, every match is live on Sky Sports and streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel
Saturday 5 February 2022 22:31, UK
Loughborough Lightning made a productive start to title defence with a 61-50 victory over London Pulse in the Vitality Netball Superleague 'Season Opener' weekend.
fThe defending champions were first on court at Birmingham's Resorts World Arena against London Pulse and used the second set of 15 minutes to stamp their authority on the encounter.
The title holders can now put their feet up and watch the rest of the weekend's action. They were supposed to play a second match on Sunday morning, however, their opponents Leeds Rhinos Netball are unable to field a team for the encounter due to Covid-19 cases, injuries and illness. As a result, the match has been postponed.
Lightning's victory over Pulse marks the first of five encounters on Saturday, with Sunday's line-up featuring a further four.
Every Superleague team other than Rhinos will take to court in Birmingham, with every contest being live on Sky Sports and streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel.
With Sara Francis-Bayman taking an 18-month leave of absence, the match marked Victoria Burgess' first in charge as director of netball.
Burgess handed a maiden start to England international Fran Williams at goal defence and partnered her with Alice Harvey in defence.
Stalwarts Beth Cobden, Nat Panagarry, Hannah Joseph and Ella Clark provided extensive experience through court, with Mary Cholhok's familiar figure at goal shooter.
Pulse started with their two new Australian athletes - Sacha McDonald and Tayla Honey in attack - while putting Funmi Fadoju back at goal keeper alongside former Lightning player Jas Odeogerin.
The London side commenced their season strongly. Olivia Tchine confidently went to post and as a whole, they looked assured during the first quarter. However, the team were slow out of the blocks in the second and as champions do, Lightning pounced on their dip.
Despite the holders enjoying a 31-21 half-time lead, they were frustrated with captain Panagarry saying there was "plenty more to come".
The holders were not able to fully put their foot on the gas in the second half though, but were able to mix up their line-up well. Burgess gave court time to Suzie Liverseidge, Hannah Williams and introduced Zanele Vimbela with four minutes to go.
Pulse used the second set of 30 minutes to return to a more settled game. They used a more familiar line-up to do it too, with Kira Rothwell and Ash Dekker on court.
The team's patience paid dividends, as they kept Lightning within their sights and lost the second half by just one goal.
Team Bath Netball's 54-40 victory over Strathclyde Sirens was delivered without their new defensive signing Phumza Maweni and England captain Serena Guthrie.
Last year's runners-up settled over the course of the 60 minutes, while Sirens were left to rue missed opportunities. The Scottish outfit finished with just a 74 per cent shooting average and a penalty count that was almost double Bath's.
Manchester Thunder produced the highest goal tally of the day during their 79-53 result against Celtic Dragons and there were also victories for Saracens Mavericks and Severn Stars.
The action on Sunday starts with Wasps and Sirens bidding for their first positive results of the new season. After that, Pulse and Bath will duel, before Dragons take on Mavericks and Stars meet Thunder.
Watch the second day of action live on Sky Sports and streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel from 12.15pm on Sunday.
