Simmon Howe during the ANZ Premiership netball match Steel v Magic. Photo / Photosport
Simmon Howe during the ANZ Premiership netball match Steel v Magic. Photo / Photosport
The Southern Steel's home stadium legacy lives on.
Blowing the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic off the court in front of an excited home crowd at Invercargill's Stadium Southland, the Steel posted an impressive 73-53 win - the highest score of the 2019 ANZ Premiership season so far.
Stoked with herside's dominant 20 goal win, Steel captain Te Huinga Selby-Rickit felt they had finally found the same flow which led them to the title last year.
"We do a lot of work on retaining the ball and scoring when we need to and pushing when we get a lead," she said after the clash. "I was stoked with that score against a good team like the Magic.
"We don't like to throw away the ball if we have to throw it around [hundreds] of times we will do that just to make sure we get it in ... hopefully, we keep going with it."
Although the Steel were away with an early lead in the opening quarter, it didn't take long for the Magic to match their pace and show signs of brilliance.
Magic captain Casey Kopua led her defence unit in the shooting circle to cause all sorts of problems for Steel goal attack Te Paea Selby-Rickit while Steel import Lenize Potgieter faced a challenge of her own trying to escape the long arms of Magic defender Kelly Jury.
Potgieter was forced out from her comfort zone under the hoop as Jury applied the pressure, but when the Silver Ferns defender took to the bench in the second quarter, the tables began to turn.
The home side suddenly forged ahead to extend their slim one-goal lead to 11, capitalising off every mistake the Magic made.
Selby-Rickit led her defenders from the front snatching four intercepts in the shooting circle while midcourters Shannon Saunders and Gina Crampton effortlessly found their shooters with a combined 91 feeds.
The Magic returned to the court after half-time with an array of positional changes but nothing seemed strong enough to disrupt the Steel's flow.
Kopua desperately tried to help her side close the gap, snatching vital intercepts in the circle throughout the final stanza but the Magic's attacking end failed to convert as the Steel comfortably secured their third-straight win of the season.
The Northern Stars take on their Auckland rivals the Northern Mystics tomorrow night at Pulman Arena as they look to build their first unbeaten run.
