The Southern Steel face an anxious wait to see if they will host next weekend's netball premiership elimination final after securing a nail-biting 59-57 win over the Pulse in Invercargill on Saturday.
Pulse defender Kelly Jury (right) battles with Steel shooter George Fisher. Photo: Photosport
With their place already confirmed to play the Tactix, the Steel were hoping to improve their goal differential to earn the home advantage, but had to pull out all the stops to keep the Pulse at arm's length.
Playing their last match of the season, the Pulse put in a terrific challenge and kept the Steel honest throughout.
Both sides were a model of accuracy in a goal-for-goal start to proceedings, their attacking lines providing a seamless transition to respective shooters George Fisher and Aliyah Dunn.
Steel captain Shannon Saunders was successful in firing in long-range feeds to Fisher while wing defence Renee Savai'inaea was a constant thorn in the Pulse's attacking raids.
Showing more flow and with slightly more possession, the Steel headed to the first break with a 17-14 lead.
With the Steel forced to work harder on attack in the second quarter, the contest tightened considerably, the Pulse closing to within one on numerous occasions but failing to take full advantage of their opportunities.
Fisher continued her outstanding season with a perfect first half return of 23 from 23 to steer the home side to a 32-29 lead at half-time.
Both sets of in-circle defenders made the shooters work hard for their keep, but improved feeding from the Pulse helped the visitors draw close to trail 44-46 at the last break.
That margin remained until the final whistle, leaving the Steel to wait the outcome of tomorrow's final game between the Tactix and the Mystics in Christchurch.
