Steel 50 Mystics 43
It was a case of kill or be killed.
And the Southern Steel certainly went for the jugular at Trusts Stadium last night, putting the final nail in the coffin for the Northern Mystics' season with a ruthless display.
It was the Steel's fourth straight win since coming off their bye in round nine, with Robyn Broughton's well-drilled side operating like clock-work as they close in on the finals.
The result brings some semblance of clarity to the play-offs picture, with three sides - the Steel, Magic and Queensland Firebirds fighting it out for the final two positions in the top four.
While the win boosted the Steel in to third position on the ANZ Championship table, they are still facing a nervous wait over the final round to see if they have secured a spot in the finals.
If the Steel lose their final round match to the NSW Swifts next week, they need to rely on other results to go their way, or hope their goal percentage holds up.
Steel captain Megan Dehn last night breathed a sigh of relief that her side have that wriggle-room.
"We wanted to win this one and hopefully it'll take a bit of pressure of us next week. Even though we'd still like to win next week it's good to get this one in the bag and not have to win in the final round," she said.
The result will likely please Netball New Zealand hierarchy as well. If the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic can get their act together against the Adelaide Thunderbirds this weekend, there is a strong possibility of two Kiwi sides in the finals.
But rather than worrying about the play-offs, the Mystics will be picking over the pieces of another disappointing season in which they failed to live up to expectations.
After a recruiting a raft of top name stars including Silver Ferns Maria Tutaia and Joline Henry and Jamaican international Althea Byfield, 2010 looked to be the year the Auckland side would shake off the tag of notorious underachievers.
But it takes more than just opening the cheque-book to build a championship winning team. The Mystics were plagued by inconsistency all season as it took far too long for their new combinations to gel.
Experienced midcourter Jenny-May Coffin acknowledged her side's downfall was their inability to mould the team together.
"A lot of people will rip us to shreds when they look at the personnel we've got in our team and where we finished," she said.
"I'm not going to make excuses here, but it still has to be remembered that this team is still a very new team, a lot of players were playing together for the first time this season and it takes time to build those combinations and get the confidence.".
With both sides' seasons on the line, there were some nervous opening exchanges to the match and the turnover count clicked over at a rapid rate early on.
The Mystics shooting end looked particularly shaky, with Cathrine Latu and Tutaia's hands letting them down on four occasions, spilling the ball over the baseline.
It was the well-drilled Steel side that settled in to their game the quickest, with key play-maker Megan Dehn controlling the pace of the attack end and putting goal shoot Daneka Wipiiti in to good space under the goal.
By halftime the visitors held a handy 26-22, but the decisive period of the match proved to be the third quarter, with a series of changes to the Mystics defensive end failing to halt the Steel's relentless charge.
Southern Steel 50 (Daneka Wipiiti 34/39, Megan Dehn 16/20)
Northern Mystics 43 (Cathrine Latu 17/17, Maria Tutaia 26/32). HT: 26-22.
