Netball: Mystics running out of time to turn highlights into wins

Mystics shooter Catherine Latu says the team needs to turn all the near misses into a win against the Southern Steel on Monday. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Trying to pick the positives out of close losses is beginning to wear thin for the Northern Mystics.

The Auckland side have shown glimpses of damaging form this season, most recently against the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic, who they came agonisingly close to toppling in Hamilton last week.

But getting close will not be good enough on Monday night, when the Mystics come head-to-head with the Southern Steel.

While it is too premature to declare the outcome of Monday's match as being a deciding factor in the playoffs picture, the fixture looms as a pivotal junction in the Mystics season.

They need to win to sneak past the Steel as the second-ranked New Zealand side, and therefore be in with a shot of making the top four.

Mystics shooter Cathrine Latu said the team was trying to push any playoff implications to the back of their minds and focus on putting a consistent performance out on court.

"We can't really play thinking 'if we lose this, we won't make the top four'. We just need to put out a good performance," said Latu.

"We've played little spurts of good netball, but we just don't do it enough, and we need to fix that.

"[Trying to stay upbeat] does get a bit tiresome because we know we're a good team, we just make crucial errors at really bad times and we can't afford to do that any more."

The Magic meet the hapless Central Pulse in Rotorua today. After six straight losses, it's not certain how the Pulse will return from their bye.

NSW Swifts meet Adelaide Thunderbirds in Sydney tomorrow and the West Coast Fever travel to Melbourne to play the Vixens on Monday.

ANZ ROUND 8

TODAY: 2.20pm Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic v Central Pulse, Rotorua.

TOMORROW: 4.50pm NSW Swifts v Adelaide Thunderbirds, Sydney.

MONDAY: 7.20pm Southern Steel v Northern Mystics, Invercargill; 9:05pm Melbourne Vixens v West Coast Fever, Melbourne.

BYE: Canterbury Tactix, Queensland Firebirds.