Netball: Pulse yet to win this season

Irene van Dyk. Photo / Christine Cornege

The Central Pulse have lost their first two games of the ANZ Championship season and you can look at it two ways.

One line of thinking would be that it's woeful and after they were tipped over 52-46 by the Queensland Firebirds in Porirua tonight it was just a continuation of last week's loss to the Melbourne Vixens.

Or, if you're a glass-half-full type, you could point to the fact that playing two Australian teams to start the competition is a tricky way to begin. Things will get easier when they meet their fellow Kiwis.

Whatever your school of thought may be, the reality is the Pulse need to get their act together smartly after the Firebirds exposed some notable flaws in Robyn Broughton's side at Te Rauparaha Arena.

Both teams came in to the contest in search of their first win. The Pulse were humbled 64-40 across the Tasman by the Vixens last week, while the Firebirds were upset 57-50 at home by the West Coast Fever.

Despite having a side full of experienced players, the Pulse were guilty of turning the ball over 14 times during the first half.

Part of it was down to poor execution, while their basic skills were also lacking.

The home side's mid-courters seemed determined to persist with high passes in to goal shoot Irene van Dyk but she was heavily marked by Firebirds defender Laura Geitz. The former Silver Fern wasn't a factor in the game.

Pulse shooters Jodi Brown (27/37) and van Dyk (19/22) combined for six of the side's turnovers in the opening spell due to the pressure they were put under by the Firebirds.

Queensland were also determined to give the ball away - they committed 10 turnovers in the first half - but their shooting was aided greatly by the towering Romelda Aiken (37/45).

At 1.96m, the Jamaican international provided an obvious target for the Firebirds to aim at and the Pulse defensive duo of Katrina Grant and Ama Agbeze were left clutching at thin air.

When giving up so much height in the defensive circle, the onus goes on the mid-court to put the opposition's attacking players under pressure but the Pulse were unable to cut off the service to Aiken.

The Firebirds took a 23-21 lead to the main break and an 8-4 run to start the third quarter helped them establish a six-goal advantage before Broughton called for a time out with her side down 31-25.

The stoppage worked for the Pulse as they rallied and took the game to the final stanza trailing 36-34. Queensland wing defence Gabi Simpson was also sent to the sidelines briefly for continually giving away penalties.

But the errors continued to mount for the Pulse in the fourth quarter and when the Firebirds pushed out to a six-goal lead with 10 minutes left, the Pulse were unable to find a way back.

The Pulse will travel to Christchurch to meet the winless Tactix next week.
Queensland Firebirds 52 (Romelda Aiken 37/45, Amy Wild 15/20) Central Pulse 46 (Jodi Brown 27/37, Irene van Dyk 19/22) 1Q: 13-12, halftime: 23-21, 3Q: 36-34