The Central Pulse remain unbeaten in the ANZ Premiership, but they had to fight hard to beat the Southern Steel tonight.
A 40-37 victory showed that the defending-champion Pulse are beatable, with the last-placed Steel nearly coming back from a five-goal deficit but being kept at bay in the final minutes in a low-scoring final quarter.
After shooting at a record-breaking 100 per cent in their last meeting with the Steel, the Pulse shooters went at an 88.9 per cent clip tonight (40/45), and that was enough as the Steel wasted their greater opportunities at goal, hitting just 37 of their 51 attempts.
The game ended on a sour note as Steel shooter Jennifer O'Connell was stretchered off with what looked to be a serious knee injury, with the Pulse managing to just see off the competition's bottom-placed team.
O'Connell's injury follows the loss for the season of fellow Steel attacker Georgia Heffernan, potentially leaving the southerners drastically light on shooting options for the remainder of the season.
