Nottingham Forest Edge London Mavericks 60-59 in Thrilling Netball Opener

Nottingham Forest narrowly defeated London Mavericks 60-59 in a thrilling Netball Super League opener. London Pulse began their title defence with a 56-51 win over Manchester Thunder. London Mavericks introduced new kit options this season, breaking from tradition.

Nottingham Forest secure narrow win over London Mavericks

Tash Pavelin joined Nottingham Forest for the inaugural Netball Super League campaign in 2025.

Nottingham Forest's Tash Pavelin praised her team's resilience after their season opener in the Netball Super League, where they narrowly defeated the London Mavericks 60-59 in a closely contested match.

Forest trailed 30-25 at half-time at the Hertfordshire Sports Village and were behind 43-40 at the end of the third quarter before mounting a comeback to clinch the victory by a single point.

"What a game for the fans and what a game to be part of," said Pavelin. "I'm just so happy that we could push through and get over the line. "We showed a lot of grit and determination today to push through and win by that one goal."

The London Mavericks had leveled the score at 59-59 before Nottingham Forest's Rolene Streutker scored the decisive goal in the final seconds.

"[It was] nerve-wracking and had a bit of everything," said Forest head coach Chelsea Pitman. "Overall, I'm just a proud coach and what a performance to be able to grind it out and have a very good second half."

London Mavericks introduce varied kit options

London Mavericks head coach Tamsin Greenway has introduced a variety of kit options for her players this season, including shorts, skirts, skorts, leggings, and vests. This approach marks a departure from the traditional netball dress, which has long been the standard attire in the sport.

Greenway, a former England player, explained that the traditional women's sportswear stems from outdated conventions and welcomed the change.

"When it was presented to me, I hadn't even thought about it because netball is played in dresses, right? I know the dress is iconic for many people. "But as a 12-year-old kid I wouldn't have wanted to play [in a dress] - I was a proper tomboy, I wore shorts and T-shirts and loved my football team who wore that, and I wouldn't have enjoyed [wearing a dress]. "You're out there putting out your best, so you want to look your best, feel your best, so why should there not be options for that, as long as it all looks like a uniform, which it does. "Most of these teams won't train in dresses - in what other sport do you wear a completely different outfit to what you actually perform in?"

London Pulse start title defence with victory

London Pulse demonstrated a "no-mercy mindset" as they began their Netball Super League title defence with a 56-51 win over Manchester Thunder on Friday at the Copper Box Arena.

After narrowly losing the previous week's season-opening Netball Super Cup final to Loughborough Lightning, Pulse delivered a strong performance in the third and fourth quarters to extend a two-point lead held at half-time.

Player of the match Halimat Adio praised Pulse's cohesive play.

"It's crazy to say it, but we had a no-mercy mentality today," she said. "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 described the match as having "ebbed and flowed," noting that Thunder's scores in the final two minutes narrowed the margin enough to earn a league table point for finishing within five points.

Thunder coach Karen Greig acknowledged the positives but anticipated it would take "a good two or three rounds" for her team to settle.