KEY POINTS:
The Canterbury Tactix prevailed 51-48 over the Southern Steel after an intensely fought transtasman netball championship match in Invercargill today.
For the second match in a row at home, the Steel let their opponents sneak away with the win.
Last week, it was the Northern Mystics who won
50-48 after the Steel led by eight goals at the start of the final quarter.
This week, they led by two, 26-24 at halftime and by one, 36-35, only to see the Tactix walk off with two points.
The result gives the Tactix, who had the bye last week, six points from three wins and two losses while the Steel now have four from two wins and four losses.
The Tactix are now tied on points with the New South Wales Swifts and the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
Today's win exacted a certain amount of the revenge for the Tactix who lost to the Steel 42-52 in a third round match in Christchurch.
Much of the credit for the final quarter turnaround will go to centre Julie Seymour and goal shoot Jodie Brown.
Seymour played the first half at wing defence, swapping with Phillipa Finch, but coach Helen Mahon Stroud swapped the pair back for the second half.
In the final quarter, Brown, back at goal shoot after spending the third quarter at goal attack, found the space to begin getting a rich supply of good ball from Seymour which negated Steel goal keep Megan Hutton who had hustled both Tactix shooters in the first half.
At the other end, Demelza Fellowes who had a first half littered by errors, and goal defender Victoria Smith tightened up on Steel shooters Daneka Wipiiti and Mega Dehn.
Wipiiti and Dehn were dominant in the first half but found their opportunities slashed as Tactix fought back.
The final quarter was fought at a high pace with both sides battling for the crucial breakaway.
Tactix went 41-39 up but Steel levelled at 43-43 before a Steel turnover gave the Canterbury team the break they needed.
From there Brown and Anna Thompson shot them into a four-goal lead which Steel were unable to bridge with five minutes to go.
Brown shot at a respectable 87 per cent (40 from 46 attempts) while Thompson scored 11 from 18 attempts.
Wipiiti had 31 from 39 and Dehn had 17 from 22 - crucially in the final quarter, the Tactix shot 16 while the Steel sank only 12.
Steel captain Jenny-May Coffin cut a frustrated figure after the match and took responsibility for the game getting away.
"In the last five minutes, we fell off the pace and I think the turning point was when a ball was passed to me and I let it go outside (creating the turnover) - we just can't afford to do that."
"We were let down by turnovers at crucial times.
`It doesn't matter what you do in the first, second or third quarter - it's the final one that counts.
" I'm just sick and tired of saying the same speech (after last week) to be honest..."
With an away game in Hamilton against top New Zealand side Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in the next round, Coffin said it would be a make or break match for the Steel if they wanted to one of the top two sides from this side of the Tasman.
"We won't be thinking the Magic are unbeatable but we need to get better," she said.
Tactix captain Julie Seymour said the team had started with different combination in the midfield so as not to be too predictable.
They had got off to a slow start but had ground away to stay in the game where Brown had proved her value in the final quarter.
- NZPA
