The Southern Steel opened up some breathing space on the crowded netball premiership ladder by netting their first win on the road this season.
Pulse defender Maddy Gordon (left) looks to clear her pass as Steel midcourter Shannon Saunders flies in. Photo: Photosport
A 56-52 win over the Central Pulse in Porirua has consolidated the Steel's spot in third place, now three points clear of the defending champions.
But it took every ounce of southern fight to snatch the win.
The early deadlock was broken by the Pulse with the long stretch of Kelly Jury troubling the Steel shooters into errors, but a run of five unanswered goals gave the visitors the first real break as they ended the quarter 18-14 ahead.
The connection between captain Shannon Saunders and goal attack Tiana Metuarau gave the Steel the edge while player of the match, Kate Heffernan, was a key link from defence onto attack.
In contrast, the Pulse looked disjointed up front as their connections into Aliyah Dunn went missing at crucial times, although they worked hard to narrow the gap and trail 27-30 at halftime.
They started the third quarter strongly to level the scores at 30-30 early on, but the same inaccuracies up front marred their performance as the Steel went on another five-goal run.
The Pulse regrouped, nailing two late goals to reduce the visitors' lead to 42-40 with one quarter to play.
The final spell was full of action: two players were forced from the court after a check for blood with just under four minutes to play - Steel defender Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit making her way to the bench along with Pulse goal attack Te Amo Amaru-Tibble.
The drama continued as Steel goal keep Taneisha Fifita was given two minutes on the bench after her second warning for dangerous play leaving the visitors to contest the last minutes of play with six players.
The Pulse were unable to take full advantage of the player difference, although they grabbed a valuable bonus point in the last minute of the game.
