Stars 53

Pulse 52

The Northern Stars have pulled a rabbit out of the hat.

The lower seed in their ANZ Premiership elimination final against the Central Pulse in Porirua, the Stars looked to be on the ropes at halftime. The Pulse had controlled the early quarters, building a handy four-point lead.

But after the break, the Stars made that lead disappear quickly before building one of their own and ultimately going on to claim a 53-52 win at the hooter.

“That’s what finals netball is, hey? It all comes down to the last second,” Stars captain Maia Wilson told Sky Sport.

“It really could have been anyone’s game and we could have gone to extra time, so we are very lucky that last whistle went for contact in the circle. But we’re so happy to head to a final and somewhere a bit closer to home.”

The Stars outscored the Pulse 16-8 in the third quarter and it became a matter of execution in the final stanza. The Pulse fought hard to get within two goals, before goal keep Kelly Jury came up with a deflection with a little more than two minutes left on the clock.

In her 100th game in the national league, Jury’s play looked to be massive as the Pulse converted on the turnover and scored off their own centre pass to level things up with less than a minute remaining.

But just as it looked like the Pulse would be able to prevent the Stars from getting a potential game-winning shot away to force overtime, the umpire’s whistle blew for contact in the shooting circle, and Stars goal attack Amorangi Malesala was cool under pressure to convert and send her team through to the final.

“We knew we were still in it,” Wilson said of the score at halftime. “It was only four goals and we just needed to gain a bit more possession so I’m really proud we were able to come out of that firing and to be able to do 60 minutes of physicality throughout that whole match.”

The Pulse were able to get on the front foot early on the back of some good play by lively centre Maddy Gordon, who proved disruptive to the Stars attack and linked up well on attack.

For the Stars, goal keep Elle Temu came up with some big plays, while midcourt duo Gina Grampton and Mila Reuelu-Buchanan provided their shooters with plenty of good service.

The Stars will now meet their northern rivals in the Mystics in the grand final in Hamilton next Sunday.

Stars 53 (Maia Wilson 36/38, Amorangi Malesala 17/21)

Pulse 52 (Amelia Walmsley 41/45, Tiana Metuarau 11/13)

1Q: 12-14. HT: 25-29. 3Q: 41-37.