Midcourter Ainsleyana Puleiata played a strong hand for the home side in the Pulse's narrow loss to the Stars. Photo: Masanori Udagawa
On the back of a strong defensive unit, the Stars Netball side returned to the winners’ circle with a hard-fought four-goal win over Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse on Saturday. Both teams understood the importance of key ANZ Premiership points on offer at TSB Arena in Wellington in Round 3 and the 59-55 victory earned the Stars their second win of their campaign and second spot on the league ladder. Struggling with early season injuries – midcourter Greer Sinclair still on her return to play plan from a knee injury and young defender Lili Tokaduadua ruled out for the remainder of the Premiership having ruptured her ACL last week – the Stars withstood the pressure from the Pulse and made their move late in the third spell before holding off the hosts in the final 15 minutes. ``In the last couple of games we’ve been really good with our starts, so it was different for us not to have a strong start in that first quarter. I was very happy with our fightback but then when we came out of the halftime sheds, it wasn’t good enough,’’ Pulse coach Anna Andrews-Tasola said. ``We showed we’ve got lots of good fight in us but we need to find out what’s happening in those spaces and fix it really quickly. ``We didn’t come for a bonus point, we wanted the win, and while we’re thankful for the bonus point, it’s still not good enough for us.’’ Led by Kate Burley in the defensive circle and the work outside by Mila Reuelua-Buchanan and Samon Nathan, the Stars worked hard for the win but could not deny a fast-finishing Pulse a bonus point. A positional switch in the shooting circle also helped shift the momentum in the match with Martina Salmon proving a tough shooter to shut down, missing just three of her 33 attempts at goal. One of the weakest defensive combinations after two rounds, the Stars unit started strongly against the Pulse’s international shooting pairing of Ine Ine-Marí Venter and Ameliaranne Ekenasio to help their side to a three-goal buffer after five minutes of play. More settled on attack, the Stars played with length through the court and showed patience with the ball as they looked for Amelia Walmsley in the shooting circle. Down by five goals, Andrews-Tasola took time to talk to her charges asking for more care with possession and as they started to run stronger lines on attack, the options opened up in the circle, and they cut the difference to three. A two-point shot from co-captain Ekenasio lifted the hosts again and at the first break, the Pulse had levelled the scores at 15-all. Momentum was running heigh in the Pulse camp, led by defender Parris Mason who played a nuisance role with her hand in most plays and her combination with Holly Comyns kept the Stars’ Fern-laden shooting circle honest. Ekenasio was a work horse on the outside of the circle, setting the tempo and accuracy with ball movement, and finding fellow shooter Venter, who had her radar on in the second spell as they edged ahead by three goals at the mid-way point. It prompted a positional switch for the Stars with Walmsley moving to goal attack and Salmon to shooter. The strong hold from Salmon gave the visitors the confidence to let the ball go as the arm-wrestle continued, the Pulse edging ahead 30-29 at halftime. Momentum shifted again, however, in the third stanza with the Stars returning to court the stronger team, and jumping out to a three-goal lead. Andrews-Tasola looked to stop the quick ball into Salmon with Comyns making way for Madison Thomas – the change having an immediate impact with Walmsley also suffering a few shooting wobbles. But with errors creeping into the Pulse game, the Stars took control and with a confident long bomb from Walmsley on the whistle, the visitors stretched out to a 47-38 advantage at the last turn.
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