Fever finish ends season with a high in Australia
It is not about how you start but rather how you finish and the West Coast Fever finished stronger than the Central Pulse in Perth yesterday afternoon as they finished their transtasman netball campaign with a 40-38 victory.
It was only the third win of the season for the Fever and it was a game they arguably did not deserve to win as the Pulse did their best to pick up a rare victory in Australia.
The Fever did not hit the lead until the final four minutes of the game when they edged ahead 37-36 and the West Coast outfit managed to hold on, to consign the Pulse to their eighth loss of the season.
The game did not mean a lot in the grand scheme of the competition as the Pulse could not finish anywhere other than seventh, while the victory confirmed the Fever would claim eighth spot.
The Pulse came out firing and were far more accurate in their attack, but the turning point came when Fever coach Norma Plummer benched Caitlin Bassett and moved veteran shooter Catherine Cox to goal shoot in the third quarter.
Nikala Smith came on at goal attack in place of Cox and the Fever lifted to another level as they slowly managed to erode the small lead the Pulse had held throughout the game.
The Pulse did their best to keep the Fever at arm’s length but in the final few minutes, the home side hit the front and they did not give up their advantage.
Earlier, in Adelaide, the Canterbury Tactix were hammered 65-44 by the Thunderbirds, which confirmed they would pick up the wooden spoon for this season.
Trailing at the back of the field is an unwanted position to be in but the Tactix have been poor all season and they slumped to their 11th defeat from 13 games.
The Southern Steel also tasted defeat 11 times this year but the heavy nature of the Tactix’ losses took its toll and they had a far worse points differential.
It was an unfair way for 32-year-old Maree Bowden to end her career at the top level after she confirmed she would retire at the end of this season.
Bowden has captained the Tactix since 2010, while veteran defender Anna Galvan has also called time on her career after playing for the franchise for the past three campaigns.
The victory booked Adelaide’s spot in the post-season but who they play in the first week of the playoffs won’t be decided until the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic has been decided tonight.
The Northern Mystics are headed to the league finals but they were very nearly heading home last night with their head in their hands.
The Auckland side battled to a narrow onegoal win over the NSW Swifts at Trusts Stadium, nearly blowing the opportunity of a top two finish and an extra life in the play-offs.
The win cemented their second place on the ladder and will see the Mystics travel to Melbourne next weekend to take on the top of the table Vixens in the major semifinal.
Chasing an outside chance of making the top four, the Swifts looked to have the best of the home side for much of the match.
Trailing 39-35 heading into the final period, the Mystics launched a stirring comeback, upping the intensity on defence to just get over the line.
While they were second on the table going in to the final round, a loss would have put the Mystics in a tenuous position in the top four. A win was ‘‘non-negotiable’’ as far as Mystics captain Temepara George was concerned.
The Mystics were dealt a blow before the opening whistle with star defender Anna Harrison ruled out of the match with an injured calf.
Feeding off a string of Mystics turnovers, the Swifts advanced out to a 27-25 lead at halftime.
The visitors continued to rattle the Mystics in the third quarter, with Sonia Mkoloma and Mo’onia Gerrard hassling the Auckland shooters into errors.
The final round of the ANZ Championship saw the curtain come down on the careers of three former Silver Ferns — the Steel’s Sheryl Scanlan, and Maree Bowden and Anna Galvan of the Tactix. All three signed off
on a low note, with the Steel and Tactix both suffering heavy losses to the Vixens and Thunderbirds respectively. — APNZ