Steel in third and set for playoffs

Southern Steel zeroed in on their second transtasman netball league playoffs with a composed 50-43 win over Northern Mystics in Auckland last night.
With just one round remaining - against the unbeaten NSW Swifts in Sydney next Monday - the Steel lie third in the standings, ahead of Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic on goal difference and two points clear of the fast-finishing Queensland Firebirds.
A strong team performance saw the Steel through, stand-out efforts coming at both ends of the court from goal shoot Daneka Wipiiti and goal keep Leana de Bruin.
The Steel's resolve was apparent right from the first whistle: they drove on to the ball well, restricted the Mystics options with some smothering through-court defence, and shooters Wipiiti and Megan Dehn finished with assurance.
Wipiiti had perhaps her best game of the season, and looked serene in handling the Mystics' often troublesome goal keep, Jamaican international Althea Byfield.
With her long shot dropping sweetly, former Silver Fern Wipiiti also impressed with her circle movement, offering plenty of options for her feeders. She sunk 34 from her 39 attempts for an 87 per cent success rate, while Dehn finished with 16 from 20 for 80 per cent.
Neither team was averse to resetting play at the transverse line when the defence proved too impenetrable, but the Steel's zone defence proved difficult for the Mystics to break, and they were allowed to show only occasional glimpses of their usual free-flowing game,
The combination between Steel circle defenders Bruin and Te Huinga Selby-Rickit was impressive, as they shut down pivotal Mystics shooter Cathrine Latu and forced goal attack Maria Tutaia into taking on the burden of the shooting.
Latu shot with her customary accuracy, but only put up nine shots in the first 30 minutes while Tutaia had to work hard in putting up 16 shots. Things didn't really improve for the normally unflappable Latu, and the second half saw her put up only eight shots, although she did sink all of them.
She finished on 100 per cent with 17 from 17, while Tutaia sunk 26 from 32 for 81 per cent.
Queensland Firebirds totally annihilated Canterbury Tactix in the most one-sided match of this season's league to date, powering to a 75-32 win in Brisbane last night.
The win consolidated their fifth place on the table, and with just one round remaining before the playoffs, the Firebirds are poised to challenge Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic for the fourth spot.
The massive win further improved the Queenslanders' chances, putting them comfortably ahead of the Magic and the Steel on goal difference if the three teams finish round robin play tied on points.
At the moment, the Magic have dropped to fourth on 16 points after Southern Steel moved into third on goal difference following their 50-43 win over Northern Mystics.
NSW Swifts, unbeaten this year on 24, top the table ahead of fast finishing Adelaide Thunderbirds on 18 points with three losses. For the rest, the scrap is on.NZPA