London Pulse coach Sam Bird says her side’s ability to keep their cool in tight games will serve them well for the rest of the Netball Super League season after a thrilling 73-63 victory over Nottingham Forest.
Pulse ended Forest’s 100% start to the season with a gritty performance as they won the match in extra time after the scores were level at 53 all at the end of regulation time.
Olivia Tchine, who notched 46 goals, and Sophie Kelly were clinical for Pulse in the additional 10 minutes to give the defending champions their third win of the season.
“We’ve been in tight finals, we’ve been in tight semi-finals, and I just think they’ve learned to stand up in these critical moments,” Bird told BBC Sport.
“Who knows? This could be happening further down the line later in the league.”
Player of the match Kelly was pleased with how Pulse managed to overcome a sluggish start to the contest to emerge victorious.
“We didn’t start good enough. I think we were just lacking a little bit,” she said.
“But I think we can be really proud of ourselves for being able to push on and push over and get that win at the end, especially coming up against Forest who are unbeaten this season.”
Forest coach Chelsea Pitman said the defeat in extra time will be a valuable learning curve for her side.
“I’m obviously disappointed to not come away with the win because I thought we were in control for 58 minutes of that game,” she explained.
“I think you always hear the cliche ‘you learn more from a loss’, but you also learn more about the grit of your team and also you get to see what other teams pull out when it comes to extra time.
“I think when we’re put in that position again, it’ll be a different story.”