Netball: Steel bow out

The Southern Steel exited the trans-Tasman netball league last night after failing to break down a resolute Adelaide Thunderbirds in Australia.

Adelaide delighted their vocal fans at ETSA Park in the South Australian state capital with a 51-45 minor semifinal victory.

They next play Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in the preliminary final in Hamilton on Sunday night to determine which team meet Melbourne Vixens in the ANZ Championship grand final.

Melbourne advanced directly to the grand final by caning Magic 58-43 in their major semifinal the day before.

Adelaide were not given such an easy ride into the next phase of the playoffs because Southern Sting came out to play last night.

The two teams traded turnovers and goals throughout a lively opening quarter which ended with Adelaide ahead 12-11.

The home side began to break down Sting's zone defence for a period in the second quarter when they went on a 8-0 run to lead 23-16.

That spurt earned them some breathing space at the halftime break when they led 27-22 after the Invercargill-based franchise paid for momentary lapses.

Adelaide put up 30 attempts to Sting's 24 by the main interval, with their shooters Kate Beveridge and Natalie Medhurst clinical in their finishing.

Sting shooters Megan Dehn and dual international Donna Wilkins were similarly efficient but they were denied the quantity of ball fed to their opposites.

That was because of Adelaide's stingy defensive midcourt as well as a lopsided contact count ruled by the match officials which heavily favoured the home team.

Umpiring decisions continued to draw wry looks from both sides in the second half, but they impacted less on Adelaide, who suffocated Sting in the attacking third of the court.

Goal defence Mo'onia Gerrard shadowed Wilkins everywhere, disrupting, infringing and generally making a nuisance of herself.

Gerrard's attention to detail and the fine work of her defensive partner, Geva Mentor, saw Adelaide protect their advantage throughout the third quarter and they entered the last stanza with a 38-32 buffer.

Both sides were well served by their shooters, with Adelaide's Beveridge sinking 31 of 36 attempts and Medhurst 20 of 21.

Dehn and Wilkins also shared the workload, Dehn converting 23 from 26 and Wilkins 22 from 24.

Dehn said the Thunderbirds pressured her team from the start.

"To our credit we kept coming back and fought right until the end.

"It could have gone either way right up until the last three minutes."

- NZPA