Redhot Pulse simply too good
There’s no denying the Central Pulse are the best netball side in the country, after they put a record score past last year’s champions in Porirua on Wednesday night.
The Pulse continued their perfect start to the season, smashing the Southern Steel by 71-40 at Te Rauparaha Arena.
The win gave Yvette McCausland-Durie’s team a franchise-best 5-0 start to the season, a streak that includes two victories over the defending champions.
While Wednesday saw the Pulse beat the Steel for just the eighth time in 24 meetings, this one was their most emphatic yet. Their 31-goal victory is the biggest winning margin in the Pulse’s 11-year history, easily surpassing the previous record of 19.
If the game wasn’t already decided after one quarter, with the Pulse up 21-9, it certainly was by halftime.
There was no coming back from 38-17 down as Katrina Grant and Sulu Fitzpatrick suffocated the Steel attack.
The Pulse’s defensive pair limited the Steel’s three shooters to a combined score of 40 from 56 attempts.
Compare that to 18-year-old Pulse goal shoot Aliyah Dunn, who shot 50/54 in another statement making performance against her former team.
But she wasn’t the only star on Wednesday, with the entire Pulse squad stepping up in a complete team effort that left the Steel with no answer.
The Pulse now face back-toback matches against the Mystics, last Sunday and next Sunday, which should provide a further indication of where this team is at. Central Pulse 71 (Aliyah Dunn 50/54, Ameliaranne Ekenasio 12/19, Tiana Metuarau 9/12) Southern Steel 40 (Jennifer O’Connell 21/26, Te Paea SelbyRickit 18/27, Olivia Bates 1/3) Q1: 21-9, HT: 38-17, Q3: 53-31 See PHOTOS page 18