Netball: Southern Steel edge Northern Stars to clinch first win in ANZ Premiership

Jennifer O'Connell of the Steel. Photo / Photosport

The Southern Steel have moved off the bottom of the ANZ Premiership table thanks to a 49-47 win over the Northern Stars.

Following a 46-42 loss to the Northern Mystics the previous day, the Steel bounced back, flying out of the blocks with a 7-1 start which left the Stars playing catch-up.

The Stars slowly pulled back the deficit, regularly getting within one goal only to be kept at bay by the Steel, before the scores were levelled going into the final quarter, at 36.

However, as close as they got, they could never quite overhaul the Steel's lead, with a 9-4 run giving the Steel a handy buffer to do what they had done all game – hold off the Stars' surge.

The Stars had three more attempts at goal, but the accuracy of the Steel shooters at 91 per cent sealed the win for them. Import shooter Kalifa McCollin was doing a lot of work to draw the defenders out, and forced defensive changes for the Stars in a fine display.

Steel goal shoot Jen O'Connell was solid under the hoop (32/36), and came away with the MVP award.

The young shooter was relieved that her side showed improvement over their past matches, after three defeats to start the season.

"We've been grinding out for that win - we definitely haven't been putting out performances that we were happy with."

Steel captain Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit stressed that her side needed to make small steps to continue to build on the performance.

"It feels so good, we were hurting over that [0-3 start] and really wanted to win. We need to get better every game and not try to fix everything at once."

However, the Steel's first win of the season may be overshadowed by the loss of young shooter Georgia Heffernan, who went down with a serious knee injury in the third quarter.

The Steel jump ahead of the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic at the bottom of their ladder, with their 1-3 record, though the Magic have a game in hand, while the Stars are also at 1-3, though have collected an extra bonus point to sit in fourth.

The Central Pulse and Northern Mystics meet in a clash of the two remaining unbeaten teams tomorrow night.