After a rare slip-up last weekend, the Netball Super League's top team is back on track. Loughborough Lightning proved their resilience with a commanding 76-60 win over the Birmingham Panthers on Friday night, shaking off their first loss of the season in style.

The defending champions, London Pulse, had ended Lightning's perfect nine-game run just days earlier. But the response was immediate and emphatic. Lightning now sit four points clear at the summit, with Pulse set to face third-placed Manchester Thunder on Saturday—a clash that could shift the title race even further in Lightning's favor.

It wasn't all smooth sailing, though. The Panthers, rooted to the bottom of the table, came out firing. They edged ahead in the first two quarters, taking a slim two-point lead into halftime at the Coventry Skydome. But champions find a way, and Lightning did just that. A blistering third quarter turned the tide, putting them four goals up before a dominant final 15 minutes sealed the deal.

On the stats sheet, Panthers' Betsy Creak was the game's top scorer with 35 goals and four rebounds, a standout performance in a losing effort. But Lightning's Samantha Wallace-Joseph matched her intensity, netting 33 goals to climb to the top of the NSL scoring charts with 339 for the season. Her teammate Ella Clark earned player of the match honors, a testament to the team's all-around grit.

Looking ahead, Lightning's next test is a blockbuster against fourth-placed Nottingham Forest on May 15—a match you can catch live on BBC Sport. Forest, meanwhile, face London Mavericks this Saturday in a crucial battle for a top-four playoff spot, with just six points separating the two sides. Every game counts now as the race to the finals heats up.