Netball: Steel snatches 'huge’ round 1 win

As far as comebacks go, it does not get much better than the Southern Steel's last-gasp win against the Mystics in Auckland last night.

The Steel rattled off six straight goals in the final two and a-half minutes to open the ANZ Championship with an enthralling 58-57 win.

It was a remarkable comeback from a team which struggled in the final quarter all last season but showed composure and resilience to come back from the dead last night.

"I'm ecstatic,'' new Steel coach Noeline Taurua told the Otago Daily Times from Auckland after the match.

"Probably that last five minutes is a total blur. It's a great start for us. But I definitely know the areas and the gaps we need to work on.''

Mystics shooter Cathrine Tuivaiti (nee Latu) appeared to have iced the game with four minutes left, when she nailed her 35th goal of the match to put her team 57-52 up.

But instead of rolling over, the Steel upped the ante and forced the Mystics into a raft of ugly turnovers.

If it was not goal defence Jane Watson, who had a cracking match, making plays, it was substitute wing defence Stacey Peeters scooping up a loose pass.

It all ended up down the other end, where Jamaican shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Reid drilled the final six goals.

When she tied up the game at 57-57 with 35sec left in the match, the game was there for the taking for the Mystics.

But another offensive blunder gave the Steel the chance they had worked so hard for, and Fowler-Reid made no mistake in knocking down the match-winner with 6sec left.

"That rips your undies,'' Mystics shooter Maria Tutaia said after the match.

It is sure to leave a sour taste in the mouths of the Mystics, who led by as many as seven early in the final quarter.

They led 45-41 at three-quarter time before threatening to run away with the game after a 4-1 run to start the final quarter.

Only a goal separated the teams at halftime as neither side was able to cash in on hard-earned turnovers at the other end.

Watson was the standout player, notching four intercepts and four deflections after starting in the goal keep bib.

Taurua opted to start her alongside goal defence Storm Purvis, meaning Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit started the match on the bench.

She was injected into the match for Purvis at the start of the third quarter, just as her sister, Te Paea Selby-Rickit, was substituted for goal attack Brooke Leaver after shooting nine from 14.

The changes coincided with a sloppy third quarter by the Steel, as passes went astray and the connection between the midcourt and attacking circle fizzled out.

Despite playing the rest of the match, Leaver only put up one shot and was guilty of not pulling the trigger.

"I think maybe the occasion took a toll on her and that's an area she needs to work on, to put those shots up,'' Taurua said.

"In saying that, she did some handy work on the outside and has some beautiful playmaking skills.''

Spectators only needed to look as far as the Steel's shooting in the first quarter to realise it was the first game of the season.

The team's shooters landed just 14 from 21 attempts (66%), with six of the misses coming from an uncharacteristically wobbly Fowler-Reid.

But she improved as the match wore on, and Selby-Rickit also landed some smooth long-shots, as the Steel went on to finish the match shooting 81%.

But it is the turnovers where Taurua wants to see improvement.

"I think there was lapses. There was some unnecessary passes that went in there, especially to Jhaniele, and I think we were forced by pressure.

"The good thing about that is we have experienced it and the girls know what we can possibly work on for next week.

"It's huge for our franchise, huge for our club and will really help us consolidate as a team moving forward.''

The Steel host the Mainland Tactix in Invercargill next Sunday afternoon.

● In Brisbane last night, the Queensland Firebirds thrashed the Mainland Tactix 70-55.

 


 

ANZ Championship
The scores

Steel                                            58

Jhaniele Fowler-Reid 48/56, Te Paea Selby-Rickit 9/14, Brooke Leaver 1/1

Mystics                                        57

Cathrine Tuivaiti 35/40, Maria Tutaia 22/30

Quarter scores: 1st, 14-13; 2nd, 29-30; 3rd, 41-45  


 

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