Stars sink Steel for second win of season

The Stars have rallied late to subdue the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel 54-53 and collect their second win of the ANZ Premiership season in Dunedin.

While both teams sit at the foot of the competition ladder, the contest brought about an intensity fitting of a finals fixture, with neither team wanting to give an inch out on the court.

The Stars produced a polished start to the match, with slick play through the court and their stoic defensive set up making the Steel work for their goals.

The Mather sisters Holly and Lisa linked well and found starting shooters Monica Falkner and Maia Wilson with ease, as the Stars kept scoreboard attendant busy from the outset.

As the quarter wore on, the Steel showed they weren't going to submit in front of a raucous home crowd and wriggled themselves into the game with some solid play, capitalising off any errant Stars play.

The Stars enjoyed the better of an entertaining first period and held a 15-14 advantage.

The second quarter was played amongst an ocean of scoring waves and saw the lead change more than Katy Perry at one of her live concerts. 

The Steel were the first to find the accelerator - going on a six goal run to stun the Stars and threaten to turn the game on its head and leave them in their dust.

As much as the Stars looked floored from a flurry of punches, they gathered themselves and countered back with some swift shots of their own, thrusting the Steel onto the ropes and enjoying an electric five goal run of their own to take back the lead.

Blows were traded for the remainder of the quarter, before the Stars yet again stuck their noses in front by one goal, up 28-27 at the half-time interval.

The goal scoring pendulum kept swing towards each team early in the third quarter, as they looked to find a way to break away from their opponent.

Some sharp play from the Steel defence gave them the upper hand and saw them go on another damaging run of goals and suddenly find themselves up by six late in the term.

But as was the narrative for much of the game, the Stars took a deep breath, refocused and finished the quarter powerfully, though for the first time of the evening were down on the scoreboard 41-39 ahead of the final period.

The Steel were determined not to let the lead slip and played measured netball early in the quarter, frustrating the Stars and keeping them at arm's length.

The Stars kept firing arrows though, hoping to wear down the Steel and find a chink in the armour. The counterattack ironically started at the defensive end, led by the effervescent Kate Burley who made some big plays alongside her partner in crime Holly Fowler.

The Stars attack fed off the energy and with Maia Wilson standing tall inside the goal circle and Amorangi Malesala injecting flair and accuracy, the Stars rolled on like a tidal wave.

The strain from constant pressure told in the dying moments and a slip up from the Steel was welcomed with open arms by the Stars, who went on a two-goal run to lead by as many, as the seconds ticked down and the clock became their best friend and a wave of relief and ecstasy overcame the girls in purple as the final whistle sounded.

Captain Wilson led by the front once again, nailing 38 of her 39 attempts at goal in a dominant display.

The Stars will now end their season at home when they face the MG Mystics at Pulman Arena on Sunday.