Panthers claim first victory against Dragons
The Birmingham Panthers secured their first win of the 2026 Netball Super League season with a thrilling 48-47 victory over the Dragons in round seven. Having lost their first six matches, the league's bottom side finally earned points thanks to Sophie Egbaran's decisive last-second goal in Cardiff.
Panthers held a 28-23 lead at half-time but saw their advantage slip in the final quarter, trailing by one with just 90 seconds remaining. Dragons' Niamh McCall missed a crucial goal attempt, allowing Betsy Creak to equalise for the Panthers. In the closing moments, the visitors maintained possession, and Egbaran, who was named player of the match, scored the winning goal as the final buzzer sounded.
Last weekend, Panthers suffered a heavy 78-45 defeat to London Pulse, marking the largest winning margin of the season so far. However, head coach Sonia Mkoloma praised the team's determination to recover during training.
"They've got structures in place, they knew what they were doing and they trusted that they could do that. It was good to see we could put out a more consistent performance," Mkoloma told .
"Even I got emotional, because the girls deserved that. In these last couple of weeks they've never given up believing that they can win this and they can win again.
"I said to them, we've never led at half-time. Embrace that feeling. We don't fight it, because you might think it's a negative feeling, you step up, recognising it and naming it so we can feel it again."
Egbaran was the Panthers' top scorer with 22 goals, second only to Dragons' Georgia Rowe, who scored 24.
"It was so exciting, even to the last second I was really feeling the pressure. Constantly talking to the whole attacking unit, saying, 'We're not losing this game,'" Egbaran said.
"Having a team that's backing you up is just so important. It really makes you feel confident, especially when you're on the shot.
"I can't hide the smile. I feel so happy and I feel so happy for my team. We started off so strong, which is really important because you can lose that game in the first quarter and I felt like we pushed it to the last second."
The Panthers' victory moves them level on points with seventh-place Leeds Rhinos, who were defeated 63-49 by Manchester Thunder.
Eleanor Cardwell, Lois Pearson, and Sophie Fawns contributed 23, 14, and 12 goals respectively as Thunder rebounded from last week's loss to Loughborough Lightning.
Meanwhile, Loughborough Lightning maintained their unbeaten record with a narrow 75-73 win over Nottingham Forest. The league leaders extended their advantage over London Pulse, who had drawn level on points with Lightning after a 56-46 derby victory against London Mavericks on Friday.
Lightning pulled away in a tense final quarter to hand Nottingham Forest their fourth consecutive defeat. This win restores Lightning's three-point lead at the top of the standings with 21 points.
Thunder remain third with 16 points, with no changes in the league table following this round.
Pulse hold off Mavericks fightback in thriller
London Pulse have won six of their seven matches this season.
Funmi Fadoju and Kamogelo Maseko starred as London Pulse resisted a determined London Mavericks comeback to secure a 56-46 victory in Friday's fixture. Pulse were without their injured star goal shooter Liv Tchine for the second consecutive match, but Maseko and Sophie Kelly stepped up, scoring 27 and 16 goals respectively.
"When you have someone like Liv out, you do realise we have so much other strength on the bench like Kamo [Maseko] and Sophie [Kelly]," player of the match Fadoju told Sky Sports.
"They work so hard in training to build those connections, it's working so well. I'm proud of the hard work they've been putting in, grinding every single session, how to do the triangles and the screens. They were so good."
Pulse surged to a 12-1 lead within the first ten minutes, prompting Mavericks coach Tamsin Greenway to call an early tactical timeout. Emma Thacker scored three two-point super shots as Mavericks narrowed the gap to four points by the end of the third quarter, but Pulse finished strongly to claim the win.
"We knew we had a very strong first quarter, but then had to push on. We know we let them back into the game," Fadoju added.
Pulse head coach Sam Bird commented:
"I'm pleased with how we finished the game. We showed we have a lot in the tank to finish strong."
How to follow 2026 Netball Super League on
will broadcast one game per week during the regular season. The following matches are available live on the website and :
- 18 April: Loughborough Lightning vs London Mavericks (18:00)
Televised games for weeks 9 to 14 will be announced at a later date.
