Netball: Pulse keep season alive

The Central Pulse remain alive in the ANZ Championship but they're at the stage where they have to rely on other results.

With two games to go in the season, they're locked on eight competition points with the Southern Steel as they battle for the third playoff spot in the New Zealand conference behind the Mystics (12 points) and the Magic (nine).

The Pulse have nobody to blame but themselves for being in this predicament after they blew a seven-goal lead in the fourth quarter against the Steel in Palmerston North last night as their clash finished in a 55-55 draw.

Robyn Broughton's side began the final frame with a 6-1 run and at 49-42 with around 10 minutes to play, victory seemed certain.

But few teams have a habit of crumbling like the Pulse do when the blowtorch is applied and another game that looked to be heading their way ended in a result that wasn't favourable.

"It's probably more disappointment than anything," Pulse goal attack Jodi Brown said. "A draw's better than a loss but I think we were in a strong position to win that and we didn't close out that match good enough.

"I think it's just those critical moments and each week it's been someone different so it's not anyone in particular, we've all had our moments."

The Pulse are a competitive lot and they're rarely embarrassed on the court but they've still never made an appearance in the ANZ Championship playoffs.

Their final two games are against the Magic in Hamilton and the Thunderbirds in Adelaide and they need to keep accumulating points.

In turn, the Pulse need the Steel, who host the Mystics next week before travelling to Queensland to meet the Firebirds in the final round, to slip up somewhere given the southern side have a better goal percentage.

"It's positive that we are not out but I think we probably need to pull our finger out at some point in the line," Brown said.

The Pulse showed during last night's clash with the Steel that they can mix it with any side in the competition as they moved the ball through court nicely.

Brown shot an impressive 20/22 and her combination with the inexperienced Ameliaranne Wells (35/41) continues to improve; they just need to find a way to hold on to the lead.

Central Pulse 55 (Ameliaranne Wells 35/41, Jodi Brown 20/22) Southern Steel 55 (Jhaniele Fowler-Reid 40-46, Te Paea Selby-Rickit 12/16, Brooke Leaver 3/3) 1Q: 15-14, halftime: 28-29, 3Q: 43-41