Netball: Mystics boost NZ conference lead

Maria Tutaia. Photo / Jason Dorday

Northern Mystics coach Deb Fuller has that good kind of problem - she has too many players to fit in to her starting side.

Fuller has the luxury of leaving Silver Ferns on the bench and the Mystics have ridden that depth to the top of the New Zealand conference in the ANZ Championship this season.

They edged the Central Pulse 47-45 in Wellington last night and internationals Cathrine Latu and Temalisi Fakahokotau both played from the pine in the second half.

"Our second training session each week is like a trial to play," Fuller said. "So it's really good competitiveness but the other thing about it is it's done in such a way that people are really supportive of the best person at the time who carries out the role that the team needs."

It's all going well for the Mystics this year who have four wins, two draws and a loss from seven games, which is good for 10 competition points. Last night's victory marked Latu's 100th appearance in the competition.

Despite playing from behind after the first quarter, the Mystics showed calm under pressure as they ground the Pulse out of the game.

It was a tough loss to swallow for the Pulse and a 14-6 second quarter in favour of the Mystics proved costly for the home side.

"We needed that one and I'm disappointed in that," Pulse coach Robyn Broughton said. "We started well and we didn't maintain the confidence we had."

Veteran goal shoot Irene van Dyk was quiet as the Mystics' defence suffocated the former Silver Fern who shot six goals from 10 attempts before she was pulled in the third quarter.

Her replacement, Ameliaranne Wells, showed some nice touches but Broughton wasn't keen to anoint her as the starter at goal shoot for Sunday's home contest against the West Coast Fever.

"Ameliaranne did quite a good job but she's young enough still and it's a lot of pressure on her," Broughton said.

The Pulse are still in the playoff hunt given the generous nature of the revamped finals system, which will see three teams from each conference make the post-season.

But the 2-4 Pulse, who are fourth in the New Zealand conference on four points, need to find some form shortly; they've struggled to hit their stride in 2015 despite having a host of experienced and talented players on their roster.

The Mystics travel to Sydney to meet the NSW Swifts on Sunday.

Northern Mystics 47 (Maria Tutaia 22/30, Cathrine Latu 13/13, Paula Griffin 12/13) Central Pulse 45 (Jodi Brown 28/32, Ameliaranne Wells 11/15, Irene van Dyk 6/10) 1Q: 9-14, halftime: 23-20, 3Q: 36-32