Mercury Energy Tactix v Haier Pulse: Match Review

A 12-goal unanswered run gave the Mercury Energy Tactix a self-assured start to their ANZ Championship campaign tonight, but ultimately, their victory was only by a heartbeat from the Haier Central Pulse.

In front of an appreciative Christchurch home crowd, the relatively young Tactix held off a late burst by the bolstered Pulse side to win 54-48.  

After an aggressive pre-season schedule and the injection of three international players, Pulse were expected to give the youthful Tactix a close run in their season opener. A telling third quarter drive by the Canterbury side looked to stop the Pulse in their tracks, but the Wellington-based team struck back to win the final quarter 18-7. Still, it wasn’t quite enough to give Pulse only their second win in the competition history.

Tactix captain Maree Bowden said it was a rewarding feeling to score a first-up victory. “We would have liked to have won by 20 rather than six - we kind of let it go. They are quite an aerial team, and we wanted to keep it short, sharp and fast.”

Tactix made the first moves in the game, with Anna Thompson, the wise head in Tactics goal circle, opening the scoring and making her intentions clear to cause headaches for the Pulse defence.   

From the outset, Pulse struggled with their timing and were hesitant to throw the ball into the circle, their links hampered by Tactix goal keep Charlotte Kight.  That tentativeness allowed Tactics to grab any loose ball and go 5-2 up.

But as Pulse shooters Jane Altschwager and, in particular, Paula Griffin, grew in confidence, the scoreboard turned in Pulse’s favour, 7-6.

Pulse’s new goal defence, Silver Fern Katrina Grant, took time to get in sync with Thompson, who dominated the circle early on, and the teams were tied, 11-11, at the end of the first quarter.

With Bowden at centre leading by example, the Tactix played patiently, waiting for the right moment to get the ball past the arms of Grant and defensive partner Ama Agbeze. Thompson was forced to hunt outside the circle, but national under-21 shooter Ellen Halpenny found the hoop more often as the game went on.
Australian under-21 player Chelsea Pitman made a sound debut in the ANZ Championships at wing attack for Tactix, having a hand in most of the attacking play and nimbly feeding Halpenny and Thompson.

Trailing by four, Pulse coach Yvette McCausland-Durie re-jigged her line-up, replacing Grant with Bessie Manu when it was obvious Thompson was being allowed to move around freely. She also switched her shooters, putting Griffin back into goal shoot.

Bowden kept her troops firing, leading 25-21 at halftime, and the next quarter would turn out to be the pivotal moment of the game.

At 32-25 down, McCausland-Durie sent her captain, Altschwager, to the bench, introducing Te Amo Amaru-Tibble at goal shoot, and reinjecting Grant into the game.

But the defensive pressure of Tactix led by Bowden and Victoria Smith at goal defence was too suffocating, and the Pulse attack wilted.  Their reshuffled defence looked out-of-sorts as Tactix went on a 12-goal unanswered run.

Pulse were restricted to just seven goals in the quarter, down 43-28 entering the final spell. But following a scolding from assistant cach Gail Parata, Pulse started to finally drive on to the ball, scoring 10 in a row to pull it back within seven.  Griffin put on a star showing, shooting 19 from 22, but ultimately the Pulse errors throughout the rest of the game cost them a win.