Netball: Tactix falter at the death

The Southern Steel came from behind to beat Canterbury Tactix by one in Christchurch yesterday, giving them back-to-back wins in the transtasman netball championship for the first time this season.

The Steel, who beat the Northern Mystics 61-52 last week, were without potent wing attack and skipper Adine Wilson, who had a calf niggle, and their rejigged line-up struggled to match the home team's passion for most of the game.

The Tactix attacking midcourt of Julie Seymour and Maree Bowden looked to have got the better of counterparts Wendy Telfer and Liana Barret-Chase from the outset as their side led 14-13 at the end of the first quarter and then 26-24 at halftime.

Steel goal attack Donna Wilkins looked a little out of sorts in the first half, shooting at just over 60 per cent, well below last week's match-winning effort against the Mystics, when she netted 95 per cent of her attempts.

Steel coach Robyn Broughton tweaked her side at the end of the first quarter.

Having started Megan Hutton at goal keep, Broughton brought her off, replaced her with Katrina Grant who had started at goal defence and shifted wing defence Sheryl Scanlan into goal defence.

It did not pay dividends immediately but as Grant and Scanlan found their rhythm, it got harder for Seymour and Bowden to feed their shooters.

With Jodi Brown and Anna Thompson sharing a shooting percentage in the high eighties, Tactix still held an edge as the game neared it conclusion.

The Tactix led 39-37 at the start of the final stanza and were able to fend off some attempted comebacks from the Steel, particularly as Wilkins raised her success rate to 82 per cent.

With a little over two minutes left, Scanlan pulled off the intercept of the game and the Steel swept the ball upcourt to tie the score at 46-46.

The sides exchanged goals to move the score to 47-47 but crucially, with less than 24 seconds to go, Steel had the centre pass.

They made no mistake and Daneka Wipiiti easily sank the winner with just seconds left on the clock to give the Steel their second win over the Tactix this season, having won 52-48 in the third round.

"Just the same old, losing the lead when it really mattered," Tactix skipper Seymour said.

"Mistakes at crucial times [cost us]. They were really patient and nailed the shots when it really mattered.

"We work really hard and it flows really well and then when we're up, we almost become too tentative."

Wilson praised her attacking end for their work in the second half.

"I thought Daneka, particularly, was so confident there to turn around and put those goals in," said Wilson.

"We've got two amazing shooters and you know that if they try to mark one out, the other one stands up. Liana and Wendy played beautifully together, they've got some really good skills. They hit that circle edge well."

The Tactix, ninth on the table, play the winless Central Pulse in the next round, while the Steel will host the leading Kiwi team, the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic.

- NZPA