Netball: Steel dig deep for win

Liana Leota in action for the Steel. Photo / Getty Images

Southern Steel delivered their best performance of the year with a hard-fought 52-48 win over Adelaide Thurnderbirds in a trans-Tasman netball league match in Invercargill tonight.

The Steel, beaten semifinalists last year, had picked up only two wins this season - both over perennial strugglers Central Pulse.

Adelaide Thunderbirds, the defending champions, had also battled for consistency but finally hit form last week with a 57-55 win over Northern Mystics.

And although the Australians started with confidence, breaking the Steel's opening pass, the home team bounced right back.

Showing more drive and control than they had in any of their six previous games, the Steel edged out to a narrow 14-11 at the end of the first quarter.

Their midcourt had a controlled look about it, Australian import Natasha Chokljat starting at centre after a strong showing off the bench last week against the West Coast Fever.

Her combination with wing attack Liana Leota, and their feed into shooters Daneka Wipiiti and Paula Griffin, was superb.

The Steel showed patience and variation on attack, and were rewarded with some excellent shooting.

Both Wipiiti, who finished the game with 86 percent shooting accuracy, and Griffin, equally consistent on 87 percent, also worked hard on defence.

Wendy Frew, who had looked a little out of her depth in recent weeks at centre, shifted back to wing defence, where she impressed in converting turnover ball into attack.

But there was no doubting the real strength in the Steel game lay in their defensive circle, where Silver Fern Leana de Bruin and youngster Te Huinga Selby-Rickit were simply outstanding.

De Bruin did a superb job in reining in Jamiacan shooter Carla Borrego, her combination with Selby-Rickit putting real pressure on the Thunderbirds midcourt as they tried to deliver clean ball to their shooters.

Ahead 29-21 at halftime, the Steel maintained focus in third quarter, which has often been a problematic spell for them and went into the three-quarter break 43-33 ahead.

However, the Thunderbirds lifted in the final 15 minutes, upping the tempo and working the ball at pace through the midcourt.

Borrego and goal attack Erin Bell began to find space, the goals began to fall quicker, and a 10-goal lead shrank with alarming speed to a precarious three-goal margin.

With seven minutes to coach, Steel coach Robyn Broughton made her only change of the match, bringing on former Silver Fern Sheryl Scanlan for a tiring Frew.

The Steel steadied, and despite another three-goal run in the closing minutes from the Thunderbirds, showed real composure under pressure to close out the win.

- NZPA