Gotta say that Round 7 of 15 in the 2024 ANZ Premiership Netball competition in New Zealand was full of surprises and unpredictability. We first saw the undefeated Central Pulse run being finally written off by the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic two days ago while the 6th and last place Southern Steel got their first win of 2024 yesterday afternoon v the Northern Mystics.
Now the Mainland Tactix is your new leader ahead of the Pulse after they overcame a serious and attack-minded Northern Stars side by just one point as the final score was 58-57. The first half was shared by the two teams with the Stars off to an excellent start while the Tactix didn’t stop working to keep them in check ahead of half-time 29-29 apiece. Yes, Stars won the third quarter where they had a small few points advantage in the hope of finally securing their first win of 2024. However, they just couldn’t get it over the finish line unfortunately which was a shame as the Stars were right in it for the whole time. Instead, the Tactix managed to turn things around with a little tweaks where a resilient defense, cutting down the ill-discipline and giving Ellie Bird the keys to shoot over the net more often there was the key to their winning path tonight in Christchurch.
Gotta say Ellie Bird was so happy & relived to get her Tactix team over the line v the Northern Stars by just one point after her outstanding performance tonight on 47 of 49 goal attempts at 96% just close within the net (goal shooter). Yes, her numbers around her had a really hard time getting past the Stars on occasions when the opposition also had high standards. But she’s thankful that staying ahead including the last 15 minutes saw her working a little more harder in order to get to stop the Stars from slipping past them while being able to process her finishing more often that fits the way the Tactix wanted to finish it off under her watch. The next Tactix star who did well to stop the Stars in its tracks at the back is Karin Burger on Goal Defense where she can cover everything at the back. She never backs down having read the difficult opposition attack well on her own danger zone in order can take the risk & win the ball back, which paid off in to order bring the ball over through the other end of the court. It goes to show that she’s still got plenty to offer at 31 including the leadership to help stay ahead despite some flaws with the ill-discipline here & there, particularly during the 3rd quarter before she got them home by one point.
And Mila Reuelu-Buchanan really made the Tactix confuse themselves with her all-action energy in the mid court that includes her defensive skills to turn things around & protect her back three. That way, she can give her Northern Stars Shooters the best link-up supply they can get thanks to their good start of the night off the back of her work including an amazing 3rd quarter. They were oh so close to derailing the Tactix’s winning celebration plans in the hope of finishing off another upset like the other two weekend matches but just couldn’t do so unluckily towards the end there with yet another loss after Round 7.
May is about done now as we enter the new month of June for Round 8 this weekend with the Southern Steel v Central Pulse on Saturday, then Mystics v Tactix on Sunday and the Stars will be back next Monday night where they welcome the Magic.
