That was all the Steel could muster during the third quarter in its match with the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in Rotorua yesterday evening.
The Magic built on a useful five-goal halftime buffer, winning the crucial period 11-6 and stretching the lead to an unassailable 10 goals and eventually won 51-36.
While the Magic showed touches of brilliance during the 15-goal drubbing, the Steel made its share of some fairly ordinary mistakes and has plenty to dwell on before its round three match against the Central Pulse in Porirua on Saturday.
Shooter Daneka Wipiiti returned to bolster the struggling attack end but looked rusty in her first game back after injuring an ankle in the pre-season.
She landed just 16 of her 23 attempts and did not have the impact coach Robyn Broughton would have hoped for.
Fellow shooter Paula Griffin put in an improved performance, scoring 20 from 24, but her combination with midcourters Wendy Frew and Liana Leota lacks zip and needs urgent attention.
The Steel showed glimpses of its potential, particularly during the second period when the team exercised some patience and treasured possession.
But the it was not able to maintain the intensity and drifted through patches.
The Magic was able to get through the opening game of its campaign without stretching much.
Irene van Dyk was, as always, lethal under the post.
She drilled 36 goals from 39 attempts and combined quite nicely with former back-up Steel shooter Julianna Naoupu.
Casey Williams was a force for the Magic at goal keep.
She sees potential intercepts like a boxer sees an opening and glides across court on her way to intercepting otherwise good passes.
Steel defender Leana de Bruin, though, was every bit her opposite's equal.
She got her hands on everything, spoiling the Magic's possession and disrupting the flow of ball to van Dyk.
Unfortunately, a lot of her good work came unstuck at the clunky attack end.
There may as well have been a wall around the shooting circle for the amount of clean ball which got through.
The Steel also showed signs of fatigue, which is not surprising given its horror run with injuries.
Wipiiti, Sheryl Scanlan, Frew, Leota and de Bruin have all spent time on the sideline recently and it showed.
The Steel started all four quarters reasonably, but fell away in the final five minutes of each period.
The third quarter collapse was a case in point.
The Steel more or less traded goals with the Magic for the first six or seven minutes before the Magic was able to pull away with a damaging 6-2 run.
The pattern was established early in the match with the Steel going to sleep in the late stages of the first quarter and allowing the Magic to open a 14-10 lead.
That was stretched to seven goals early in the second quarter before the Steel rallied with some of its best netball.
Having closed the gap to a single goal, it then stumbled, turning ball over, and the Magic capitalised, establishing a five-goal margin.
In other matches, the Northern Mystics comfortably disposed of the Central Pulse 54-44 at the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua.
The Mystics strolled to a 29-17 halftime lead and never looked like being caught.
At ETSA Park in Adelaide, the Melbourne Vixens thrashed the home side 65-47 as Vixens shooter Kate Beveridge scored a game-high 39 goals.
