Netball: Northern Stars hold on to beat Northern Mystics in ANZ Premiership barnburner

Stars player Mila Reuelu-Buchanan celebrates beating the Mystics with Temepara Bailey. Photo / Photosport

The Northern Stars look all but assured of a place in the ANZ Premiership playoffs, after a tense 53-52 victory over the Northern Mystics this afternoon.

The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Stars, who maintain third place on the ladder, with three rounds left in the regular season. They currently hold an eight point lead over their closest rivals, the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, but with the Magic's next games seeing them play the top two sides in the competition – the Central Pulse and Southern Steel – it will take a drastic turnaround to deny the Stars a playoff berth.

However, the end of the season will be very telling for the Stars, as they too must face the Pulse and Steel before the playoffs.

Those two matches will be an indication of their title credentials, as their win over the Mystics was unconvincing.

It was a scrappy game full of errors at Pulman Arena, with the Mystics having a slight edge throughout until the final quarter.

The Mystics' captain Phoenix Karaka sat out the match with a concussion, with Michaela Sokolich-Beatson and Erena Mikaere given full games in the defensive circle.

Jamie Hume was given the start at goal attack, with Bailey Mes at goal shoot, but after shooting only 2/6 in the first quarter, Hume was substituted and 17-year-old Grace Nweke was brought on at goal shoot, pushing Mes to goal attack.

Nweke had a strong game and while she missed eight of her 37 shots, she grabbed nine rebounds, but ultimately it was not enough, with a feed from Emma Iversen not reaching Nweke in the last seconds as the underdogs sought to take the game into extra-time.

Stars captain Leana de Bruin said that the game was intense, but was relieved to hold on for the win.

"We wanted to really go out there and actually play to our potential and keep calm and composed, we haven't had that for four weeks."

Sokolich-Beatson was visibly upset in the post-match interview, but put the loss down to errors from her own team.

"We made our own mistakes - didn't catch our own balls, didn't defend enough. We are improving, it just feels like we can't tie it all together."

The Mystics will be playing for pride for the rest of the season, as they remain at the bottom of the table with four matches left to play.

Standings: Central Pulse 30 points (10 games), Southern Steel 23 (10), Northern Stars 20 (12), Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic 12 (11), Mainland Tactix 9 (10), Northern Mystics 8 (11).