º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Lightning lift the Super League trophy

Image provided by Morgan Harlow.

Lightning beat Thunder to win back-to-back Netball Super League titles

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Lightning have won historic back-to-back Netball Super League (NSL) titles following a gripping 54-70 win over Manchester Thunder on Saturday evening.

In front of a bumper crowd of over 8,000, Vic Burgess’ side dominated a thrilling final to secure their third title in four years.

Lightning started brightly, looking slick throughout, as offensive duo Rhea Dixon and Mary Cholhok proved to be constant menaces to Thunder’s defence.

In a truly absorbing encounter, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ continued to control the contest, leading 33-27 at the half-time whistle.

Lightning continued in fine form and stretched their lead in the third quarter – inspired by the imperious Nat Panagarry – before closing out the game in style to write their names into the history books once again.

 “Unbelievable, to win a final against a team like Thunder is always tough," head coach Vic Burgess told BBC Sport.

"To get a 16-goal win in a final is unbelievable. Back-to-back, which is exactly what we set out to do, so I'm very proud. They deserve it - they're a formidable team."

It is the first time a team has won consecutive titles since 2016 and captain Nat Panagarry told the BBC this was always Lightning’s goal.

"We had a talk about a month ago. We were literally like ‘this is not good enough’. We weren’t speaking about going back-to-back - it wasn’t in the language as much as it was at the start of the season," she said.

"The staff put ownership on us and said ‘do you actually want to win this? Don’t be scared of it and own it’. So for four weeks we’ve had the trophy at training sessions and weights, we’ve been seeing it, wanting it and keeping it at ours."

Rhea Dixon was awarded the Kissimmee Player of the Match following a 95% success shooting performance at Goal Attack.

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Lightning’s starting 7:

GK: Alice Harvey

GD: Nicola Smith

WD: Beth Cobden

C: Nat Panagarry

WA: Hannah Joseph

GA: Rhea Dixon

GS: Mary Cholhok

For more information on º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Lightning netball visit: /sport/performance/lightning/netball/

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 24/85

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines. 

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme and named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2024 QS World University Rankings – the eighth year running. 

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is ranked 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2025, 10th in the Guardian University League Table 2024 and 10th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024. 

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’, and in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes. 

The º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking. 

Categories