Archive May 11, 2025

London Pulse moved back to the top of the Netball Super League with a 63-53 derby win against the London Mavericks at Wembley Arena.

Loughborough Lightning had gone top with a 71-59 win over the Leeds Rhinos but Pulse responded by getting back to winning ways following a defeat by Nottingham Forest last time out.

They led 35-22 at half-time and, despite the Mavericks reducing the deficit to four points with nearly 12 minutes left, Pulse finished strongly to go two points clear at the top of the Netball Super League table.

Lightning had put some pressure on Pulse with an assured display at home to see off second-bottom Leeds Rhinos a day earlier.

Vic Burgess’ side are aiming to clinch a third consecutive title and looked to be warming to the task in this fifth straight victory.

Just one point separated the two sides going into the final five minutes of the second quarter before Lightning turned the screw in the ‘super shot’ period, outscoring Rhinos by nine points to two.

They moved further ahead after the break, ending the third quarter leading 54-39 at the Sir David Wallace Arena.

And while the visitors worked hard to reduce that deficit in the closing stages, Lightning always looked capable of capitalising on their greater shooting accuracy.

They finished with an 86% success rate, compared with Rhinos’ 82%, landing six more goals (46-43) and three more in the ‘super shot’ period (11-8).

The top two will meet when Pulse host Lightning at the Copper Box Arena in their next match on Sunday, 18 May.

On Friday, Cardiff Dragons claimed their first win of the Netball Super League season as they beat Birmingham Panthers on Friday.

Having started the campaign with seven consecutive losses, the Dragons overcame a narrow half-time deficit to secure a 61-57 victory at the Skydome Arena.

The Panthers led 34-32 at midway point and were still a point up at the end of the third quarter.

It was level at 57-57 with five minutes remaining but the Dragons edged ahead through goal attack Phillipa Yarranton and she added a super shot to extend the lead.

Goal shooter Georgia Rowe, who top-scored for the Dragons with 39 goals, wrapped up the win for the Super League’s last-place side.

The Panthers had a marginally better shooting success rate, 86% to the Dragons’ 85%, with Sigi Burger scoring 46 goals, but were outshot 67 to 55 by the visitors.

Friday, 9 May

Birmingham Panthers 57-61 Cardiff Dragons

Saturday, 10 May

Loughborough Lightning 71-59 Leeds Rhinos – watch the full match back on BBC iPlayer

Sunday, 11 May

Nottingham Forest 58-72 Manchester Thunder

Olympic gold medallist Ros Canter won the Badminton Horse Trials for the second time in her career on Lordships Graffalo.

The pair, who claimed the title in 2023, regained it following a clear round in the showjumping.

Britain’s Canter was second after the dressage and cross country elements behind compatriot Oliver Townend, who won the 2009 event.

But Townend, last out on board Cooley Rosalent, knocked down a rail in the showjumping finale to slip to second overall.

Canter, who was part of the British eventing team to win gold in the Paris Olympics last summer, dedicated her victory to her coach and mentor Caroline Moore, who died two months ago.

“This was for Caroline Moore, she was by my side my whole career,” Canter told Horse and Hound.

Ruben Amorim has conceded he should step aside as manager if Manchester United take their poor league form from the end of this season into the next campaign.

United’s appalling finish hit another low note at Old Trafford as they lost 2-0 to a West Ham side that had failed to win any of their previous eight games.

Amorim’s side have only beaten relegated duo Ipswich and Leicester in the league since 26 January and are on their joint worst winless run in the Premier League of seven games.

“Everybody here has to think seriously about a lot of things,” said Amorim.

“Everybody is thinking about the [Europa League] final. The final is not the issue. We have bigger things to think about.

“I’m talking about myself and the culture in the club and the culture in the team. We need to change that.

“It’s a decisive moment in the history of the club.

“We need to be really strong in the summer and to be brave because we will not have a next season like this.

“If we start like this, if the feeling is still here, we should give the space to different people.”

On a three points for a win basis, United are heading for their worst tally since their 1930-31 relegation campaign, when they would have collected 29 points in a 42-game campaign.

United are on 39 points and 16th in the table, with only Europa League final opponents Tottenham and the three relegated teams below them.

Asked what he thought when he looked at the Premier League table, Amorim replied: “How is a manager of Manchester United supposed to feel in that position? Embarrassed.”

If United beat Tottenham in the Europa League final, they will qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Conservative estimates suggest it could be worth around £100m to the club, even if they were to get knocked out in the play-offs given they would have had five home games and generated crucial revenue through prize money.

While owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazer family might view that as an imperative given they are addressing losses in excess of £370m over the past five years with a second round of redundancies, and limits on perks like free tickets and travel to Bilbao for staff members, for Amorim, the prospect of competing on the highest European stage is a dubious one.

“The final is by far the smallest problem in our club,” he said.

“We need to change something that is deeper than this. Playing in the Premier League and Champions League for us is the moon. We need to know that.

The damning allegation United’s players pick and choose their games has lingered for some considerable time, dating back to Jose Mourinho’s time as manager at the club, which began in 2016.

Players have come and gone and successive managers have been sacked but the issue remains, albeit never with consequences in terms of results as acute as this season’s have been.

“In the Europa League, we don’t play quite well but we have a little bit of that urgency in having to win games,” he said. “We manage to find a way to win. We are so focused.

“In these games in the Premier League, sometimes we are not focused. It’s hard to explain that. There is a lack of urgency in everything we do. It’s a big concern.”

The concern is so big, according to Amorim, it is eating away at United’s status.

What used to be known as a ‘big club mentality’ is disappearing.

“There’s a lack of urgency when we’re defending our box and there’s a lack of urgency when we are near the box,” he said.

“We need to be more aggressive and feel that it is the end of the world when we are not winning a game.

“There is a feeling that it’s OK because we cannot change our position so much. We are losing the feeling that we are a massive club and it’s the end of the world to lose a game at home.

“If we are not scared of losing a game as Manchester United and don’t have that fear anymore, it is the most dangerous thing a big club can have.

Betfred Challenge Cup semi-final

Warrington (15) 21

Tries: Tai, Vaughan, King Goals: Sneyd 4 Drop-goal: Sneyd

Leigh (4) 14

Warrington Wolves secured a second consecutive Challenge Cup final appearance with victory over local rivals Leigh Leopards in a pulsating match at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

Edwin Ipape put Leigh ahead after just 49 seconds but tries from Rodrick Tai, Paul Vaughan and Toby King, and the impeccable kicking of Marc Sneyd put Sam Burgess’ side in control.

Leigh, who won the 2023 final, refused to give up as Tesi Niu went over twice in the second half, but Sneyd’s shrewd drop-goal with the last action of the first half kept daylight between the sides, in sweltering conditions.

Wire, who lost to all-conquering Wigan Warriors at Wembley last year, will face Hull Kingston Rovers in the final on 7 June.

Leigh were the form side going into the game after five straight wins had taken them to third in Super League, while Warrington had lost three of their previous four and have struggled since losing playmaker George Williams to injury.

They were boosted by the return of Sneyd after he fractured an eye socket in April, but he was off to a poor start as his attempted kick in the Wolves’ first set of six was charged down by Ipape, who picked up and ran half the length of the field to finish.

That invigorated Warrington after their early setback and when they finally cut loose down the right, Josh Thewlis, making his 100th club appearance, picked up a bouncing pass and when Josh Charnley attempted to intercept his pass to Tai, the ball looped into the air and Tai athletically grabbed it to touch down.

The excellent Paul Vaughan had begun that move with a sharp off-load, and he grabbed the second try for himself, powering over from dummy half despite the presence of three tacklers.

Sneyd converted both tries, added a penalty, and then slotted over the telling drop-goal at the end of the half to make up for his early error.

Leigh began the second half with serious intent, but Thewlis produced a remarkable tackle to bring Ipape up inches short of the line before Niu finished off Gareth O’Brien’s break to blow the game open once more.

King seemed to have sealed the win as he scored from Dufty’s lofted pass, with Sneyd adding another classy conversion from wide on the left, but again Leigh hit back as Niu grabbed his second try.

Warrington head coach Sam Burgess told BBC Radio Merseyside:

“I’m proud of them. We had a lot of bumps and bruises and lost both wingers, which is really hard to manage, and then lost Fitzy [Lachlan Fitzgibbon] but we’re used to it nowadays so we just get on with it.

“We all witnessed the effort the players put in. I thought it was a decent game of rugby, a tough game, and both sides were very good. Leigh had some great moments as well.

“After the first minute I was proud of the players’ ability to emotionally control their actions and get back into our game cycle and get a foothold in the game.

[On Sneyd] “He’s a brilliant player. He’s a strong-willed character and he came to me and said, ‘I want to train this week and play,’ and it’s so valuable to have those guys around because they drive hard standards, when he’s just had surgery.”

Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam said:

“I’m very frustrated and disappointed. It was just some dumb individual things at times and we couldn’t get the flow or find any rhythm in the game.

“I thought we weren’t even close for a lot of the game. I felt like we were chasing it the whole time, we weren’t connected as a group, defensively we were poor, and at times they just fell through us and made [Paul] Vaughan look like he was in his prime.

Warrington: Dufty; Josh Thewlis, Tai, King, Ashton; Ratchford, Sneyd; Yates, Powell, Vaughan, Holroyd, Fitzgibbon, Currie.

Interchanges: Philbin, Crowther, Lindop, Harrison.

Leigh: Armstrong; McIntosh, Niu, Hanley, Charnley; O’Brien, Lam; Trout, Ipape, Mulhern, O’Neill, Hughes, Liu.

Interchanges: Hodgson, McNamara, Davis, Ofahengaue.