Steel 58
Thunderbirds 49
The race for the one remaining spot in the ANZ Championship finals looks set to come down to a sprint finish between the Southern Steel and the Queensland Firebirds over the final round.
The Steel's bid to become just the second New Zealand team to make it beyond the regular season in the transtasman league remains alive after beating the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Dunedin last night.
The win lifts the Steel up to fourth position on the ladder on equal points with the Firebirds, but just ahead on goal percentage.
The southern side need to win and win well against the NSW Swifts in Invercargill next weekend if they are to cement their place in the playoffs.
The Firebirds, likewise, will be chasing a big win against the West Coast Fever in Perth next Monday, which means the final make-up of the top four will not be known until the final game of the final round.
Last night's win was the first time the Steel have beaten an Australian opponent this season and captain Adine Wilson said the breakthrough was a timely one.
"We knew one was coming against those Aussies. I guess it was fourth time lucky and it came at the right time," said Wilson.
"We want to play with real confidence. We don't want to look frazzled and throw the 50-50 ball, and I think that's what we did.
"We've got to take another big step up next week because it will be do-or-die for us."
The third-placed Thunderbirds headed to Dunedin the in-form team of the competition after racking up four big wins over the past four rounds.
But the Adelaide side had not played in New Zealand since round four of the competition, and struggled to find their rhythm, with the Steel able to take the speed out of their play.
The result will be well received by at least one party in Adelaide, the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic, who arrived there yesterday from Perth to prepare for their final-round clash against the Thunderbirds. The loss means the Thunderbirds are unlikely to be able to overtake the Magic on the ladder regardless of next weekend's result.
That point was not lost on Thunderbirds captain Natalie von Bertouch, who with defender Geva Mentor was one of the stand-outs in an otherwise lethargic Adelaide display.
"We're very disappointed in tonight's result as it could play a role in where we finish in the final four," said von Bertouch.
The Thunderbirds skipper said her side could not find a way to force turnover ball from the safe and steady Steel outfit.
"I'd say where we fell down was we didn't turn the ball over enough, we didn't have the full-court pressure we needed to.
"All credit to them. We played really badly and they made us play badly."
The Thunderbirds also took far too long to adjust to the New Zealand umpiring interpretations, with the match an extremely ill-tempered affair early on, Mo'onia Gerrard and Jo Sutton the main aggressors.
The Thunderbirds' overly physical approach was not welcomed by the Steel, or the umpires, and the visitors racked up a high penalty count.
They then didn't help their case by letting the Kiwi whistleblowers know what they thought of the calls, which saw them cop a couple of penalties for dissent.
This edition went to press before last night's match between the Canterbury Tactix and the Melbourne Vixens.
