2 Apr 2015

Pulse beat Magic in netball championship

11:59 am on 2 April 2015

The Central Pulse have produced their best performance of the trans-Tasman netball championship season to beat the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic 49-38 in Wellington.

The Pulse netballer Liana Leota in possession.

The Pulse netballer Liana Leota in possession. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

It is just their second win of the competition and moves them level on points with the Magic, with the two sides both behind the New Zealand Conference leaders the Mystics.

With the Pulse's attack suffering from the wobbles up until this match, coach Robyn Broughton turned to her veteran shooting duo of Irene van Dyk and Jodi Brown to fire up the starting line-up.

Broughton was very happy with the performance.

"I've been waiting for it they've been waiting for it, I don't think we've played to our potential the last couple of games and it's disappointed us all."

"They were patient with the ball their ball placement improved and I think they wanted the win a lot."

It was also a shot-in-the-arm for van Dyk and Brown, who shared the shooting load and kept the scoreboard frequently ticking over with a solid 80 percent accuracy.

With the Pulse's attack suffering from the wobbles up until this match, coach Robyn Broughton turned to her veteran shooting duo to fire up the starting line-up.

Down 12-9 after the first quarter, the Magic attempted to trouble the Pulse's tempo by moving Leana de Bruin back to goal keep to shut down van Dyk. But in a feeding frenzy - wing attack Liana Leota whizzing around the circle edge, and Brown at her charismatic best - the Pulse scored a stunning seven-in-a-row to push the margin out to 10.

The Magic struggled with the weight of their passes in to shooters Jo Harten and Ellen Halpenny, too often looking to the long ball to solve their problems. The shooting duo also found themselves darting in and out of the circle trying to elude Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit and Katrina Grant.

The Pulse led 27-17 at half-time and were up by 15 during the second half.

The Mystics lead the New Zealand conference with seven points from the Magic and Pulse with four.

In Sunday night's match in Australia the Queensland Firebirds beat the New South Wales Swifts 51-47.

Pulse shooting statistics:

Irene van Dyk 24/30 (80%)

Jodi Brown 25/30 (83%)

Magic shooting statistics:

Jo Harten 25/30 (83%)

Ellen Halpenny 11/13 (85%)

Malia Paseka 2/3 (67%)

MVP: Jodi Brown (Mojo Pulse)

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