Steel finishes well to gain third

A STRONG finish has helped the Southern Steel to third place in the Super Club tournament.

The side won the final quarter 1810 to beat the New South Wales Institute of Sport 5445 in the thirdfourth playoff in Nelson last night.

It trailed 3533 with a minute to play in the third quarter.

But two goals from Georgia Heffernan — the second a twopointer — gave the Steel a 3635 lead at the final break.

NSWIS equalised with the first play of the fourth quarter, before the Steel ran away to the finish. Jennifer O’Connell returned at goal shoot and proved a dominant figure, while Gina Crampton and Kate Heffernan both fed her good ball.

A the other end, NSWIS struggled to score.

The Steel extended the gap to 4538 and, while NSWIS hit three twopointers towards the end, it was unable to score regularly enough to make any inroads.

The season was capped by midcourter’s Shannon Francois’ introduction at goal attack in the final minute.

She had one shot at goal and made it count, hitting a two pointer with 21 seconds to play.

Earlier, the Steel had shot out to an 117 lead at the first break and maintained that margin at 2622 at halftime.

In the final, the Central Pulse beat the Mainland Tactix 6156 to claim the title.

The Pulse trailed 1512 after the first quarter, but roared back in front to lead 3127 at halftime.

The Pulse pulled that back by one in the third quarter to take things to 4441.

However, it was the Pulse that finished stronger and emerged as champion, going some way to avenging their loss in the ANZ Premiership final.