NORTHERN Mystics kept the good times rolling notching up another win – their first at TSB Arena – against Central Pulse, 58-47. It was a game of two halves as the Pulse held the ascendancy early but got blown out of the water in the third quarter as the Mystics first stole away momentum, and then the win.

Mystics wasted no time hitting the scoreboard with Grace Nweke opening their account within the first 20 seconds. Playing with confidence the Mystics won the ball off the Pulse’s centre pass and converted, then with the centre pass to follow created a three-goal buffer in the blink of an eye. Scrappiness from the Pulse and ill-directed passes into the circle enabled Kate Burley to get her hands to ball as she gobbled up a big cross-court intercept. It took over three minutes for the Pulse to score and even then it was a shaky shot off the hand of Te Amo Amaru-Tibble who missed the first shot but was able to reel in the rebound and convert. Despite playing in wing defence, Maddy Gordon did a wealth of attacking work to transition the ball down court and provide that additional outlet pass.

The Pulse started to generate some momentum as Whitney Souness found her groove around circle edge and Kelera Nawai flexed her defensive muscles to win rebounds and contest the hands of Nweke. Down by three goals to start the game, the Pulse flipped the script to establish a three goal buffer of their own largely due to the work Nawai and Amaru-Tibble were doing down their respective ends. Both sides were playing with great speed down the court but struggled to find the middle channel, instead hugging the sidelines given the immense defensive pressure. It became a bit of a shoot-out between the two goal shooters as Nweke and Aliyah Dunn reaped the rewards of some well-executed passes into the circle but it was the Pulse that came out the stronger boasting a narrow two-goal lead at the first change.

The second term continued much the same as the physicality of the contest came to the fore. Fa’amu Ioane was given a warning with the wing defence mistiming her attack on the ball and subsequently drawing the attention of the umpire, while a couple of party tricks in the Pulse attack end allowed them to maintain their two-goal buffer despite the best efforts of the Mystics. The ball got lost in transition for both sides throughout the middle of the term with neither side able to capitalise on the turnover as errant passes started to come into play. Claire Kersten was a real general in both attack and defence for the Pulse, helping to set the tempo of the game while Gordon continued to be a menace up against the dynamic Peta Toeava.

Kelly Jury and Nawai’s connection started to blossom as Jury nabbed a timely tip on the ball with Nawai there to follow up. The three-foot marking coming from both sides was causing all sorts of havoc as Tayla Earle demonstrated her great athleticism creating a tip while captain Sulu Fitzpatrick impressed with her movement and constant pressure. The Pulse skipped out to a handy three-goal lead and with hope to extend it made a switch in wing defence with Gordon to the bench and youngster Paris Lokotui making her way on. Burley was making a nuisance of herself in defence for the Mystics, fighting hard for every ball but it was the Pulse that held the lead by four goals.

It was goal for goal for the first couple of minutes of the second half before the Mystics capitalised off a turnover despite the best efforts of Gordon who threw herself at absolutely everything. Bailey Mes had struggled to get into the game, well worn by Jury but her experience and class started to shine through with her defensive marking enabling her to regain possession for her side and then dart into the circle to finish the passage of play off. The Mystics stole the lead after being down for a large chunk of the match with inaccuracy from the Pulse creeping in and Fitzpatrick using her netball nous to box out her opposition shooters.

Things were well and truly going the way of the Mystics as they pulled out to a six-goal lead with the battle between Gordon and Toeava intensifying. With the game slipping away from them Gail Parata rung in the changes across the board as Abby Erwood pulled on the goal defence bib and Jury was pushed back into goal keeper, Gordon swung into wing attack and Souness moved into goal attack. The move seemed to work with the combination between Souness, Dunn and Gordon firing on all cylinders, nut the Mystics took advantage of their sound connections weathering the storm and causing disruption especially in attack given the high workrate of Burley and Fitzpatrick to boast a 10-goal lead.

After dominating the third term with a record 22 goals the Mystics continued on their merry way in the fourth as Nweke controlled proceedings. Her strong holds and clever body positioning enabled her to roam free while the Pulse were forced into more wholesale changes as Gordon left the court after landing awkwardly. It was all one-way traffic with the Mystics exploiting the Pulse in every which way thanks to their defensive pressure and composure in attack to work the ball around and dominate. With the game won and done Saviour Tui made her way onto the court for the Mystics while Parris Mason attempted to quell the bleeding streaming down the court to take a huge intercept for the Pulse but it was too little, too late.

Nweke was unstoppable under the post with 51 goals at 93 per cent while Mes struggled to inject herself into the game with five goals and 12 goal assists. Toeava was once again the attacking mastermind as shown through her 32 goal assists while Fitzpatrick and Burley combined for three intercepts and nine gains. Dunn’s accuracy wavered converting at 79 per cent as did Amaru-Tibble who sat at 75 per cent. Kersten was key through the midcourt with 24 goal assists as Gordon showed her defensive tendencies to finish with two gains and an intercept.