Steel hold nerve to see off Pulse
Make no mistake – the Southern Steel are the real deal.
They were pushed hard by the two-time defending champions at Stadium Southland yesterday afternoon, but ultimately beat the Central Pulse 56-52.
Having opened up a nine-goal lead early in the third quarter, they made life hard for themselves by contriving to fall behind later in that spell.
But some good work by goal attack Tiana Metuarau – an off-season acquisition from the Pulse – helped them find their groove and run away down the stretch.
The Steel were able to open up an early lead on the back of a stellar defensive effort by goal keep Taneisha Fifita, who won three interceptions in the first quarter, where her side went on a 5-0 run at one stage to open up a substantial margin.
But in a sign of things to come, it was the Pulse who ended the opening period the strongest, going on a 3-0 run of their own to keep the hosts’ lead to four goals.
They had lost Maddy Gordon to an ankle injury early on in the game and while she made an attempt to return in the second spell, she ultimately had to watch the decisive parts of the contest from the bench.
Buoyed by their home crowd, the Steel kicked on in the second quarter, slowly but surely increasing their lead until it sat at seven goals while the two teams headed for their halftime talks.
Back on court, George Fisher scored twice to grow the Steel’s advantage to nine goals – as large as it had been all match.
But that was when the Pulse, with their backs against the wall, began to come roaring back, surging while the Steel experimented with their midcourt, introducing Ali Wilshier at goal attack and moving Shannon Saunders back to centre.
Kelly Jury started to lift her game at goal defence, and all of a sudden the home team’s lead had shrunk to five, then to one, then to none, with Aliyah Dunn leading the way in the shooting circle and Te Amo AmaruTibble providing good support.
The Pulse then got their noses in front for the first time, but the Steel righted themselves and managed to take a two-goal lead into the final quarter, having lost the third 15-10, where they went back to their starting lineup.
Fisher had been able to get the better of her marker, Pulse goal keep Kelera Nawai, for most of the afternoon, and with the visitors tying things up again three minutes into the fourth quarter, a shootout was beckoning.
The two teams went goal for goal until the nine-minute mark, when Metuarau and Fisher combined for a rapid 5-0 run, which allowed the Steel to finally breathe easy, though they were unable to deny the Pulse a bonus point for a close loss.