Netball: Steel and Thunderbirds draw

A late turnover from Steel defender Storm Purvis gave the homeside a late look-in. Photo / Christine Cornege

Steel 53
Thunderbirds 53

The Southern Steel have pulled off a dramatic last gasp draw against the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Dunedin to end an otherwise disappointing weekend of transtasman league netball for New Zealand sides.

It was the second stalemate of the round after the Pulse held the visiting NSW Swifts to a 47-all draw on Saturday, but unlike their Wellington-based rivals, who blew a late opportunity to win the match, the Steel will come away from tonight's game feeling as though they pulled a rabbit out of a hat.

Down by three goals with a minute on the clock, the Steel looked to be heading towards another narrow defeat to an Australian rival. But a late turnover from Steel defender Storm Purvis, who toiled well all evening, gave the homeside a late look-in.

But when star shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Reid was forced off the court with less than 20 seconds on the clock, it was left to youngsters Brooke Leaver and Te Paea Selby-Rickit, who herself had battled injury throughout the match, to clinch the crucial point for the homeside.

Selby-Rickit was forced from the court late in the first quarter with a mysterious injury, before being reintroduced for the fourth quarter only to sidelined once more with eight minutes left on the clock as she battled abdominal pain. But when Fowler-Reid went down with an ankle injury, the Steel had no option to put the youngster back on the court for the final stages.

It was Leaver who first sunk a penalty shot in Fowler-Reid's absence, before Selby-Rickit converted the Steel's resulting centre pass with a brilliant long-shot.

Steel captain Wendy Frew was delighted with the way her young teammates stood up to the challenge.

"With a minute to go down by three we wouldn't have thought we got the draw, so we're pretty happy with that. And for once it was us scoring under pressure, so that was really good for us moving forward," said Frew.

"18 seconds to get two goals, it was a great effort, I'm just so happy with them."
The result sees the Steel leapfrog the Pulse into third place on the New Zealand conference ladder once more by virtue of their superior goal percentage, while the Thunderbirds remain rooted to the bottom of the Australian conference.

There were further concerns for the Adelaide side with the star defender Eboni Beckford-Chambers leaving the court five minutes into the second period with a shoulder injury.

The English international, who joined the Adelaide side this year after three seasons with the Fever, looked to be in severe pain after dislocating her shoulder whilst contesting a high ball into the circle.

The sight of Beckford-Chambers clutching her shoulder will also be of major concern to new England coach Tracey Neville with just over three months to the World Cup in Sydney.