London Pulse captain Zara Everitt has vowed her side will bounce back after a narrow 54-51 defeat to AO Manchester Thunder in the Soft & Gentle Grand Final at the Co-op Live Arena. It was Pulse's third Grand Final appearance in four seasons, having won the title in 2025 after losing in 2023.
Heartbreak in the Final Minutes
Thunder pulled clear in the final two minutes to clinch victory, denying Pulse back-to-back titles. Everitt described the defeat as devastating but took pride in her team's consistency. “I’m totally gutted,” she said. “I don’t know whether it’s worse to be in it and then lose it at the last minute, or to have had a totally rubbish game, I’m not sure. That’s how the league should be. Games should be decided by seconds, by a couple of minutes. We take pride in the fact that we’ve consistently been up there - top three, top four - for the last few years.”
Experience as a Foundation for Future Success
Everitt highlighted the value of the experience gained from high-pressure finals. “A couple of years ago, we had a very similar final where we led for most of the game and then lost it. Each year is another chance to gain experience in different situations. Hopefully, in the years to come, we’ll have been through everything and that will help us in those big moments. We’ve been through it before and learned from it. We’ve come back more mature, everyone’s literally just got older, which helps.”
She added that the team is now better equipped to handle pressure. “We’re definitely a better team for those experiences. Before, when we lost, it felt like we hadn’t quite done it yet, like there was something still out of reach. Now we know we can do it. We’ve done it before, and that gives us confidence that we can do it again. There’s a real opportunity for us to push on next year, especially if we retain a lot of the same players. We just need to build on what we’ve learned over the past few seasons.”
A Season of Ups and Downs
Pulse reached the Grand Final after a regular season campaign that included 12 wins and two losses, with three victories coming after extra time. They bounced back from a defeat to Thunder in the Major Semi-Final to reach the season finale. Everitt acknowledged the challenges of the season. “We had some great moments. Credit to Thunder and well done to them, they deserved to win in the end. We definitely took it to them the whole time. We’ve had a really up-and-down season. The season’s gone so quickly. I think we had probably two or three games where we just edged through against teams that we probably should have beaten more comfortably. Like all teams, we’ve had a couple of injuries, and losing key players early in the season was really challenging but I think that strengthened us heading into the final stages.”
Defensive Efforts and the Impact of the Super Shot
Everitt, playing wing defence, recorded four gains and five deflections in the final. However, Pulse could not fully capitalise on turnovers, and Thunder’s accuracy with the Amex Super Shot proved decisive. “I do think it comes down to the Super Shot,” Everitt said. “You saw that, there was a swing of two or three two-pointers in the third quarter, and it just makes such a difference. It really emphasises how those small moments become really, really crucial. Last week, we played really well at controlling those passages of play, but today they just took a few of those moments in that same short space of time, and we weren’t able to capitalise when we had our chances.”
