Netball: Pulse have no response as Firebirds turn up heat

ANZ CHAMPIONSHIP
Central Pulse 46
Queensland Firebirds 58

Central Pulse netball defender Althea Byfield should be weary today.

She and her Pulse team-mates were given the run around yesterday by another Jamaican, Romelda Aiken, as the Queensland Firebirds won a one-sided ANZ Championship match 58-46 in Wellington.

The clash of the Jamaicans was touted as the one to watch but, as it transpired, Aiken - a 1.96m goal shoot - was in a class of her own.

With her midcourt dominant and the Firebirds defenders giving not one centimetre away, 20-year-old Aiken had a field day as the Queenslanders chalked up their first win in three outings - and their first on a New Zealand court.

The result left the sorry Pulse still without a win after one season and three matches, and the performance marked a big step backwards on their earlier, close defeats this term to Southern Sting and Northern Mystics.

Whatever rookie coach Yvette McCausland-Durie told her players before the game did not work because the Pulse started slowly and sloppily, allowing the Firebirds to open up a significant 17-8 buffer.

It helped take the Wellington crowd out of the game early, making the visitors' mission all the easier to accomplish.

The home side snatched two goals back before the end of the first quarter but even at that early stage the writing was on the wall for McCausland-Durie's charges. The coach was powerless to prevent what unfolded, as Aiken powered her team to a 31-21 lead by halftime despite the Firebirds losing captain Peta Stephens to injury.

The Pulse held their own in the third quarter, which was shared 12-12, with usable ball finally arriving to goal shoot Paul Griffin, who had a good match despite the close attention paid her by the Firebirds defenders.

The Queenslanders finished as they had started, adding another 15 goals in the closing quarter to safely snare crucial competition points.

Aiken converted 46 of her 60 attempts at goal while Griffin was likewise a busy woman, shooting 36 from 47 attempts.

Close to 50 turnovers littered the game, shared close to evenly by the two teams, meaning a it was by no means a spectacle.

Not that Queensland coach Vicki Wilson and her players cared.

Captain Stephens spoke for her side when saying it was not the Firebirds' best performance.

"We are just happy to get some points on the board, especially over here in New Zealand."

Stephens said Wilson had a specific game plan to unsettle the Pulse.

"Our game plan was to come out and play really tight one-on-one. We thought that would get under their skin. It worked for us last year."

Stephens, who is just back from a torn calf injury, revealed that she thought she tore the other calf muscle during the first quarter, which could mean another spell on the sidelines.

Central Pulse captain Cushla Lichtwark said her team fought back in the second quarter before "silly errors crept in again, which we can't afford in this league".

"We are getting used to the Australian sides when they're right on your back all day. But we need to get used to that if we are going to compete against that style.

Even New Zealand teams are looking to use the man-on-man [defence] as well."

- NZPA