NSL Unwrapped - NXT Gen League Rounds 9-12

Loughborough Lightning surged ahead at the top of the NXT Gen table as they delivered an unbeaten month in April.

NIC Leeds Rhinos also went undefeated during April, winning both of their matches between Rounds 9 and 12 but struggled to make an impression in the table as they had two byes.

Nottingham Forest and Team Bath, on the other hand, moved up the standings as they each won three of their four matches.

Lightning set the pace

It seems nothing can stop the form of Loughborough Lightning at the moment as they raced to four wins from four.

The East Midlands outfit defeated Team Bath, London Mavericks, Birmingham Panthers, and Manchester Thunder to take them five points clear at the summit.

After seeing off Team Bath 73-40 at home, Lightning travelled to the capital to face Mavericks where they were run much closer.

But the league leaders found a way, delivering a 56-51 victory on the road before returning to their usual dominance at home as they defeated Panthers 70-40.

They began May with a 51-41 victory over Thunder to make the most of London Pulse’s slip against Nottingham Forest.

It capped a stellar run and saw Lightning finish Round 12 with 10 wins and just one loss, taking them to a total of 28 points.

Forest grow with statement win

Nottingham Forest ensured they remained firmly in the chasing pack with three wins from four, including an impressive victory over London Pulse.

Forest kicked off Round 9 with a battling 51-47 win over London Mavericks at the Motorpoint Arena.

They sustained that form on the road with a comprehensive 61-44 victory over Birmingham Panthers, but suffered 62-46 defeat on the road to NIC Leeds Rhinos.

But the Trees bounced back in style clinching all three points in a thrilling contest against second-placed London Pulse.

Forest defeated Pulse 59-58 at home which takes them fifth in the table and within two points of the chasing pack.

Bath and Rhinos stay in the chase

Team Bath and NIC Leeds Rhinos also kept pace with the chasing pack in Rounds 9 to 12 as Rhinos went unbeaten while Team Bath took three wins from four.

While hampered from making a real surge up the table by two bye rounds, Rhinos made their games count as they earned a 53-46 victory in a northern derby against Manchester Thunder in Round 9.

They followed that up in Round 11, as they welcomed Nottingham Forest to the Canon Medical Arena and delivered a comfortable 62-46 win to make it two wins from two.

Team Bath made gains in the standings despite experiencing defeat to Lightning in Round 9.

From there they bounced back to make it three wins in a row, including a thrilling 55-53 home victory over London Mavericks in Round 11.

It means Bath sit fourth in the table, level with Rhinos and just one point behind Pulse.

Pulse off the pace

Second-placed London Pulse hit a bump in the road as they suffered defeats to Birmingham Panthers and Nottingham Forest, allowing Lightning to open a gap at the top of the table.

While wins against Manchester Thunder and LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons have kept them in second for now, a 59-51 loss on the road to Birmingham Panthers hurt their chances of challenging Lightning and they were unable to regain momentum as they fell to a narrow defeat at Nottingham Forest.

It leaves them just one point ahead of the rest of the league and five points off the pace of Lightning.

Mavericks keep building

London Mavericks added a second win of the season after falling on the wrong side of a series of narrow defeats.

The side from the capital lost three of their four games by a margin of five goals or less as they came agonisingly close to more three point hauls against Nottingham Forest, Loughborough Lightning and Team Bath.

But their persistence paid off as they achieved a 56-52 home win against LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons.

Dragons struggled to lift themselves off the bottom and close the gap to the Mavericks as they lost three in a row.

Birmingham Panthers also struggled to find form as they could not make good on their impressive win over Pulse, going on to lose their next three matches.

Manchester Thunder also had a tough spell as they lost all three games.