Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel v Avis Magic
June 28, 2025
A powerful performance thrust the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel even closer to a deserved spot in the ANZ Premiership playoffs.
The 64-55 win over the Avis Magic at ILT Stadium Southland finally propelled the southerners into the top three on the premiership ladder – a position it will be desperate to cling to with two rounds of regular play remaining.
The Steel scorched out of the blocks and delivered their best start of the season to notch up a 6-1 buffer in the opening minutes. But the momentum was fleeting as the Magic got a sniff of the action.
As the hunt for a spot in the playoffs continues to feature a trio of contenders, the urge for victory was evident from both teams, sparking some scrappy phases as a hustle for possession ensued.
While the home team arguably held the upper-hand, the Magic threatened to spoil the party by sneaking back within three. It was motive enough for Steel defender Carys Stythe to unleash, her prowess instrumental in the Steel surging head with five unanswered shots before the halftime break.
It’s dubbed the championship quarter and the Steel’s domination of the third phase could well prove exactly that, extending their advantage to 15 and further boosting its playoff chances.
Magic snatched bragging rights in the final spell but its efforts were in vain.
After a performance where unity was a fundamental factor, it feels unfair to single anyone out for kudos. The work rate from every player awarded a bib was essential and, for the majority of the encounter at least, the win undoubtedly a collective effort the Steel can be proud of.
For assistant coach Liana Leota, the end result was bittersweet.
“I’m happy with the win, not the final result. We started well but we were just inconsistent in patches. We had more runs than them which gave us the buffer. We know they’re a team that can shoot the two so we needed that buffer just to protect that lead. We just didn’t finish it how we wanted to,” she said.
“We get on these beautiful runs but then we have a lack of connection or do some individual errors that we’ve been harping on about for the last three weeks to refine and get better with the ball in hand.”
It might be the end goal, the playoffs were not the prime focus for the team.
“To be honest, we don’t talk about it. We have to control what happens week by week. If we don’t turn up, we can’t think about what happens in the future so for us, it’s do-or-die every week and that’s been our mindset and our mantra and we will continue that until we know we are in the playoffs.
“We’ve got the opportunity to control our destiny in our own hands. We can do what we like with that but again it’s just that inconsistency. I know every coach talks about it but I think we’ve got opportunities to see it improve – we’ve got two more games to then be ready and in a really good place should we make the elimination final.”
