Last updated 21:09, May 28 2018
JOHN DAVIDSON/PHOTOSPORT
Elisapeta Toeava impressed at wing attack for the Mystics as they beat the Tactix on Monday.
Elisapeta Toeava impressed at wing attack for the Mystics as they beat the Tactix on Monday.
The Northern Mystics held off a fourth-quarter fightback from the Mainland Tactix on Monday night, winning 53-49 in the national netball premiership at Horncastle Arena in Christchurch.
With four Silver Ferns in the respective defensive circles, that side of the game was always going to be prominent, and so it proved, with neither side shooting better than 78 per cent.
The Tactix finished with 23 turnovers to the Mystics' 19, failing to make the most of the nine interceptions their defenders Jane Watson (five) and Temalisi Fakahokotau (four) hauled in, though they did manage to secure a bonus point for losing by less than five.
Mystics defenders Anna Harrison and Phoenix Karaka were no slouches themselves, and deserved plenty of credit for their team's win, which moves them level with the Southern Steel on six points, one fewer than the Tactix.
The game began in scrappy fashion, with both teams giving the ball away on their first possessions, and they were soon engaged in a see-saw battle.
Brooke Leaver started for the Tactix at wing attack, with Kate Beveridge and Ellie Bird in the shooting circle, a combination that had helped them come from behind to pip the Northern Stars last week, but they struggled for any fluency early. Their best moments came when they were able to go long to Bird under the net, though she only shot 77 per cent in the end.
The scores were locked at 13-all at the end of the first spell, with neither team able to pull away.
Brooke Leaver of the Tactix hauls the ball in.
In the second quarter, the Mystics began to click offensively, as wing attack Elisapeta Toeava connected well with goal shoot Bailey Mes and goal attack Jamie Hume - Maria Tutaia was absent for the second game in a row, under her unique stop-start playing agreement - and they were able to open up a five-goal lead, 25-20, midway through the spell.
The Tactix clawed it back somewhat - their captain Watson was a menace defensively, setting the tone for her side with three first-half interceptions - but the Mystics were able to pull away again and they led 30-25 at the break.
Having been up 18-16 three minutes into the second quarter, the Tactix found themselves on the wrong end of a 18-7 run, that include seven consecutive Mystics goals either side of the halftime break, before Bird netted to stop the rot.
That then sparked a three-goal run for the Tactix that took some getting, as Mystics defenders Harrison and Karaka upped the pressure in the shooting circle, but they couldn't keep it going, and at the final break, the Mystics were still in front by five.
The Tactix closed the gap to one, six minutes into the final quarter, with Bird showing some good composure in the shooting circle, and it looked like a repeat of last week's last-ditch comeback against the Stars might be in the offing.
A Harrison hoist - one defender lifting another - was deployed, ironically, by the Tactix, to help them win a turnover and draw level, but the Mystics were then able to patiently build their lead back up, and they were ahead by four when the final whistle came.
Round four of the ANZ Premiership concludes on Wednesday, when the table-topping Central Pulse host the Steel - a rematch of last year's final.
Northern Mystics 53 (Bailey Mes 29/36, Jamie Hume 24/34) Mainland Tactix 49 (Ellie Bird 36/47, Kate Beveridge 13/16).
Q1: 13-13; Q2: 30-25; Q3: 41-36
Points (games played): Pulse 8 (4), Tactix 7 (5), Steel 6 (4), Mystics 6 (5), Magic 3 (4), Stars 2 (4)