The Pulse notched up its first victory over the southern franchise since the inception of the ANZ Championship in 2008.
The 47-42 win in Napier was no doubt sweetly satisfying for a Pulse team determined to have an impact in 2012, and for new coach Robyn Broughton, who left the Steel at the end of last season.
For the Steel, it was a frustrating defeat which resulted from a failure to establish any consistent rhythm, most notably on attack.
Applauded for its herculean effort just five days earlier over the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, the Steel was unable to repeat the feat, suffocated by a tenacious defensive effort from Pulse trio Katrina Grant, Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit and Joline Henry.
Steel captain Jodi Brown was unequivocal in her assessment of the performance.
"We lacked intensity right from the start and we just didn't come to the party, basically," she said.
Brown refused to accept the short turnaround between games as a factor in the Steel's occasionally lacklustre performance.
"I don't think you can blame it on recovery. It's just lack of execution and our skills."
Offering glimpses of its capabilities, the Steel clawed the deficit back within striking distance several times but never managed to snatch the upper hand.
Down 25-20 at halftime, the Steel ignited the game when getting back within two goals but squandered valuable possession at crucial times to trail 39-33 heading into the final quarter.
Uncharacteristic misses from the Steel's usually robust shooting duo of Donna Wilkins and Brown were quickly snaffled up and transformed into five unanswered goals by Pulse's Caitlin Thwaites, creating a 10-goal buffer with only 8min on the clock.
To the Steel's credit, it refused to surrender until the final whistle and put in a gutsy last-ditch effort to haul the score back to a more respectable margin.
Pulse captain Grant, another former Steel favourite, said her team's narrow loss to the Mystics a week earlier had taught valuable lessons.
"We knew we had to dig deep and we came through with a win which was awesome," Grant said.
"Week in, week out we're just improving little bits all the time."
The Steel's next assignment is against the Tactix in Christchurch on Sunday.
ANZ Championship
The scores
Central Pulse ... 47
Caitlin Thwaites 29/32, Paula Griffin 18/26
Steel ... 42
Donna Wilkins 29/33, Jodi Brown 13/19
First quarter 12-10, halftime 25-20, third quarter 39-33.
