Steel march on, Mystics hit the showers - June 15, 2010
Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel 50, LG Northern Mystics 43
By Kate Buchanan

Reinforcing its status as a serious playoffs contender, the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel dispatched the LG Mystics in clinical fashion in Auckland last night.

With the star-studded Mystics traditionally the Steel's boogie team, expectations were high heading into the clash – and it didn't disappoint with both teams literally fighting to keep their season alive.

Ultimately, the pressure-cooker situation sparked the best in the Steel and, all too often, the worst in the Mystics.

The at times brutal physical attention from the Mystics detracted from the skills on display, and left some Steel players notably bracing themselves for impact after receiving the ball.

But it was certainly a reflection of what was at stake, with the loss relegating the Mystics to also-ran status in the 2010 ANZ Championship.

For the Steel, it cemented third-place on the points table with one round remaining. A win against the unbeaten NSW Swifts in Sydney on Monday will most likely secure a home semi-final for Steel's Stadium Southland faithful. A loss will have players anxiously awaiting other results to determine their fate, with both the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic and Queensland Firebirds still in contention for a finals berth.

“We wanted to win this one and hopefully take a bit of pressure off us for next week,” Steel captain Megan Dehn said last night.

“We're fairly confident with how we're playing and we're a good solid team unit – if we happen to make the semis, we'll be going in confident.

“The Swifts will probably want to go through the season unbeaten but every team is beatable and we will be giving it our best.”

She attributed the Steel's form revival to its three-goal loss to the Mystics in round 8.

“We were really disappointed with that game and we had a week off after that to just go away and think about it,” she said.

“We've been working on our fitness the whole year and I think that's really coming together now. Everyone's getting fitter.

“It's a fairly new starting seven, we haven't played together much before and it's just taken time to gel.”

Steel's jaunt to Auckland may have enabled them to dodge the snow in Southland, but they still received a chilly reception from the Waitakere Trust faithful.

It didn't take long for the southerners to heat things up on court, dominating the opening stanza 15-10.

With the Mystics struggling with composure, the Steel snaffled any precious possession  and preserved it's buffer 26-22 at halftime and 40-32 heading into the final spell.

“The first quarter was pretty tentative and both sides were just sussing each other out, but the second and third were very tough and everything was contested so it was a good game to play,” Dehn said.

“We just played nice and steady. We got a bit tentative at times but we stuck to our game plan and we really dug it in and had good connections on the court when it counted.

“We always had eye contact with each other and, if there was a mistake, we knew what went wrong and what to do to fix it – it was a good team effort tonight.”

The performance of defenders Leana de Bruin and Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit was instrumental in success, the relentless duo quashing the impact of Mystics shooter Cathrine Latu and forcing goal attack Maria Tutaia to assume responsibility.

Usually prolific, Latu was limited to just 17 shots for the entire game – although to her credit succeeded with every one of them.

The deft touches of Steel's midcourt trio of Liana Barrett-Chase, Wendy Frew and Erika Burgess enabled them to negotiate a path through the Mystics' uncompromising defensive efforts.

The Mystics forced their way back into the contest on several occasions with brief surges, but their efforts were unraveled just as quick.

Goal keep Althea Byfield emerged clutching her prey on a trio of hunting expeditions during the second quarter, but was unusually quiet for the remainder of the game.

The lack of fire from the Mystics defence was a credit to the inspiring work of Dehn and Steel goal shoot Daneka Wipiiti. Despite coach Te Aroha Keenan introducing young Kayla Cullen and moving Joline Henry out to wing defence for the third quarter, the pair proved a challenge to contain and Keenan quickly reverted back to her original plan..

With bodies sprawling on the court, you couldn't fault the Mystics commitment in the final quarter, but it was to no avail. Despite a late charge of five unanswered goals, the Southerners were simply hungrier for the win.

Coach Robyn Broughton was justifiably proud of her team.

“We played our game plan and we played it well,” she said. “We let it go a couple of times – I think I got a wee bit cross at one stage. I thought we were deviating away, playing too much speed, at their speed, and we needed to just play at our speed and do what we do well.”

Broughton acknowledged the Steel's season was potentially riding on that game.

“There was a huge amount riding on it and I think we were all a bit uptight today ... it was a big challenge for us tonight and there will be players that have come of age out there with that sort of challenge and getting through it and winning it.”

Mystics wing attack Jenny-May Coffin, who captained the Steel in 2008, said individual mistakes proved costly.

“I think Steel did their homework – they played a good patient game, didn't give away much possession and we just threw away frivolous ball but we've been doing that all season,” she said.

“We were consistent for a couple of minutes then we'd be off the boil for five minutes – you just can't afford to do that.

“Sometimes we showed more desire but things just don't go your way sometimes. You can't afford to cough the ball up in this competition and we've been guilty of that all season.

“Hopefully this team has learned from that – it's a new group. I remember my first year in the inaugural season with the Steel and asking people just to be patient with our team because we hadn't played together – we had five different franchises in one team. And this is very similar this year with the Mystics – yes, it is a very stacked team and talent-laden team but it takes time to build combinations.”

Retaining players was the key to future success but the professional era had affected traditional loyalties.

“You can't blame players for trying to go and get what they possibly can out of the game because their lifespan is only short – and to be fair it's not big amounts of money when you're comparing it to league and rugby,” Coffin said.

“When you do look at the top teams in this competition, you have a look at how long they've been together. The Swifts had a bad year last year but the core of that team have stayed together. Thunderbirds are the same. The successful teams are those that have stayed together and they've got some very experienced players in their side.”

Mystics coach Te Aroha Keenan described it as “a funny old game”.

“They were positive right throughout the game but things just didn't go their way on court,” she said.

“As this Mystics team does, they pushed the boundaries on 50/50 ball but they (Steel) were just so clinical – they weren't going to force anything.

“That kind of game means that everyone needs to be connected and I don't think we were.

“Cathrine got 100 percent but we struggled to get the ball to her. Maria shot most of the shots in the game and if she wasn't prepared to shoot it from the edge of the circle, we probably would have struggled with getting it in.”

She conceded the Steel were the “far better” team.

“We've got to take responsibility for our performance on court and there were some individuals that fought hard right to the end and there were some that came in and out of the game,” Keenan said.

“All is not lost – we've won more games this season than any other season and we've still got one more game to go.

“What Steel have done is probably not good for another New Zealand franchise ... but Steel were the better team tonight – they were by far the better team.

“It's going to be an interesting end to the competition actually.”

Shooting statistics:

Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel
Daneka Wipiiti 34/39 (87%)
Megan Dehn 16/20 (80%)

LG Mystics
Cathrine Latu 17/17 (100%)
Maria Tutaia 26/32 (81%)

The Steel take on the Swifts in Sydney at 9.05pm (NZ time) on Monday night and, while defeat won't necessarily destroy the Steel's finals dream, Broughton was adamant it would not be taken lightly.

“It won't be our attitude because if you got a win against a team like that the confidence would just soar ... we'll certainly be putting our best foot forward. They are good, they're really good – they're a bit like us in ways that they play their own game and they don't deviate from it so it will be interesting really to see how we do go,” she said.