Netball: Tactix shooting woes continue in loss to Central Pulse

English import Kadeen Corbin has struggled with her accuracy in her first few hit-outs with the Mainland Tactix. Photo/PHOTOSPORT

The Tactix shooting efforts will once again come under the microscope after the team slumped to their third straight ANZ Premiership loss.

The Canterbury side suffered a 48-37 loss at the hands of the Central Pulse in a low-scoring duel in Porirua this afternoon.

While the Tactix showed a notable improvement in their shooting accuracy following a horror outing against the Stars last weekend, in which they recorded an accuracy rate of just 67 per cent, volume proved the problem against the Pulse.

The visitors were kept to 10 or fewer goals for three of the four quarters, as their shooting line-up of Kadeen Corbin, Anna Thompson and, later, Brooke Leaver, struggled to get their hands on the ball against the Pulse's international defensive duo - Katrina Grant and Phoenix Karaka.

Faced with a quick turnaround after Wednesday night's narrow loss to the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, the Pulse bounced back fresh and determined to notch up their second win of the ANZ Premiership.

It was a slow scoring start, with both teams on full defensive alert; only five goals were scored in total in the opening five minutes.

English import Corbin struggled under the hoop with the dynamic defence of Grant and Karaka bearing down on her, and the Pulse made more inroads through court as the spell wore on, leading 12-8 at the first break.

The Pulse continued to stifle the Tactix attack, forcing them out wide to survive. When the difference was eight, the Tactix introduced young shooter Leaver to try to elude their grasp. Her strong presence made an immediate difference, shooting six from six (including a buzzer beater from almost the circle edge) to close the gap to six goals at halftime.

As Thompson at goal attack continued to lead by example, the Tactix drove through the court, finding their connections, to quickly halve the difference. But that only triggered Grant and Karaka to step up to another level, successfully hunting down the ball and putting the home side back in control.

Pulse shooters Cathrine Tuivaiti and crowd favourite - 16-year-old Tiana Metuarau - kept the scoreboard ticking over in their favour, giving the Pulse a double-digits lead into the final quarter, 37-27.

With their other impressive goal attack Te Amo Amaru-Tibble returning to the game in the last spell, the Pulse held the Tactix at bay; Tuivaiti making the biggest scoring contribution of the game with 24 from 27.