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The NSW Swifts have registered the biggest win of the fledgling of trans Tasman netball competition, thrashing the Central Pulse 59-30 at the Olympic Park Sport Centre tonight.
The 29-goal winning margin also moves the Swifts to the top of the competition ladder on percentage ahead of Australian rivals the Melbourne Vixens, Queensland Firebirds and the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
Facing their fourth opponent from New Zealand in as many matches, the Swifts outshone their win-less Kiwi rivals across the court from the first whistle until the last.
The Pulse, who were looking to restore some pride after last week’s hiding from the Firebirds, gave an undisciplined and messy performance, showing they weren’t in the same league as the Swifts.
Racing to a 13 goal lead at the first break the Swifts extended it to 16 at halftime and went into the final break 46-21 ahead.
Coach Julie Fitzgerald rang in the changes after halftime, the less experienced combinations making unforced errors but still able to grow the home side’s lead.
Shooting at 82 per cent, well above their season average of 77, Swift shooters Catherine Cox (36 from 43 attempts) and Susan Pratley (15 from 17) found form early despite fighting an extremely physical battle under the posts against import defender Sonia Mkoloma and Kahurangi Waititi.
Pratley was replaced by Leah Shoard (8 from 12) in the second half.
Swifts defender Adelaide Johnson held her place in the starting side and combined well with Rebecca Bulley to stymie the Pulse shooters Susan Tagicakibau (19) and Jamilah Gupwell (3).
Only goal difference separates a congested pack of five teams on six championship points.
Australian teams hold the top four positions on the championship table after the Melbourne Vixens beat the Canterbury Tactix 58-50 tonight.
In other round four matches, Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic beat Perth-based West Coast Fever 61-47, the Queensland Firebirds won a tight match against the Northern Mystics 46-40, while the Adelaide Thunderbirds defeated Southern Steel 54-41.
Bulley praised the Pulse’s defensive effort tonight and denied the win felt like a whitewash on court.
“Defensively it was a really tough game,” she said.
“The Pulse are a really young team so hopefully they’ll improve.
“We came out and really dominated from the start, hopefully they’ll learn a lot from it and they’ll keep on improving.
“Maybe we let a few through that we need to tighten up on. When we’re up by that much you tend to try a few tricky things but I think you’ve got to be happy with it.
“We were aiming for 60 goals.”