Panthers win for first time against Dragons

Panthers win for first time against DragonsImage source, Benjamin BrainImage caption, Birmingham Panthers had lost their six opening matchesByAlex BrothertonBBC Sport journalistPublished10 April 2026Updated 6 minutes agoBirmingham Panthers claimed their first win of the season with a nail-biting 48-47 win against Dragons in round seven of the Netball Super League.The league's bottom side had lost their first six matches this season, but Sophie Egbaran's last-gasp goal sealed their first points in Cardiff.Panthers led 28-23 at half-time, but lost their lead in the final quarter and were trailing by one with 90 seconds to go.Dragons' Niamh McCall then missed a goal before Betsy Creak levelled up the scores for Panthers.With the final minute winding down, the visiting side held possession well before player of the match Egbaran scored the winning goal with the final action of the game.Watch: Netball Super League - Panthers beat Dragons 48-47 with buzzer beaterPanthers were beaten 78-45 by London Pulse last weekend, the biggest winning margin of the season so far, but head coach Sonia Mkoloma said they showed "intent to bounce back" in training this week."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 BBC Sport."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 Panthers' leading scorer with 22, a total beaten only by Dragons' Georgia Rowe, who netted 24."It was so exciting, even to the last second I was really feeling th...