Unbeaten Pulse march on

The Central Pulse survived a nervous final quarter to beat the Mainland Tactix 52-44 as last year’s runners-up continue to set the pace in the ANZ Premiership.

After previously beating Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic and Southern Steel in the opening two games, the Central Pulse have now claimed the scalp of previously unbeaten Mainland Tactix – their eight-goal win at TSB Arena last night lifting them to a perfect 3-0 record.

Teenagers Aliyah Dunn (33/40) and Tiana Metuarau (16/17) were once again preferred over Ameliaranne Ekenasio in the shooting circle and they combined for 49 of the Pulse’s 52 goals.

But Ekenasio was eventually injected off the bench in the final quarter and she played a valuable cameo, shoring up their lead after allowing the Tactix to close the gap to as few as seven goals.

For much of the night it looked like it could have been a whitewash, a dominant second quarter firmly swinging the game in the Pulse’s favour.

Having already led 15-11, their 6-0 run to begin the quarter saw them open up a double figure advantage and they went into halftime up 30-17.

The Tactix scored just six goals in the second quarter, a stat they were left to rue. Making matters worse was the fact that they lost captain Jess Maclennan, who started ahead of star signing Jane Watson, to a knee injury early in the same quarter.

It was a mixed night for the Tactix shooters, who had to deal with standout Pulse defender Sulu Fitzpatrick and captain Katrina Grant.

Brooke Leaver was the pick of the Tactix though, scoring 13/16.

PHOTOSPORT Pulse’s Aliyah Dunn, left, looks to shoot under pressure from Tactix’s Jane Watson during last night’s ANZ Premiership netball match at the TSB Arena in Wellington.