THE Central Pulse have claimed their elusive premiership after trumping the Northern Stars in a thrilling match. It has been three years of heartache for the Pulse featuring in the last few finals and falling short on each occasion before clenching a huge four-goal victory (52-48) to bring home the trophy after 21 years.

After a disappointing loss in the 2018 Grand Final, the Pulse came out with a vengeance. They were led by Sulu Fitzpatrick who worked overtime in defence to shut down opposition shooter Maia Wilson and win the ball picking up two gains and an intercept in the opening term alone. It was a shaky start for Pulse goal attack Ameliaranne Ekenasio who struggled under the post only nailing two goals from her six attempts but worked hard in transition to move the ball down court. Pocket rocket Whitney Souness put on a masterclass in the first term with her speed, dynamic footwork and ability to open up space and feed into Ekenasio and Aliyah Dunn with 12 feeds and seven goal assists. In her final game, Leana de Bruin showcased her class, tenacity and sheer netball smarts to get into damaging positions across the court and ability to disrupt attacking play picking up three gains, two intercepts and two deflections. The Pulse held a two-goal lead going into quarter time showcasing their composure across the court.

The Central Pulse pushed out to a six-goal lead midway through the term before the Northern Stars fought back picking up the defensive pressure and culling the margin back down to two goals. They evened things up in the second quarter with both sides scoring 15 goals apiece in the second quarter. Dunn became a commanding presence in the goal circle shooting 14 goals straight at 100 per cent credit to her clever movement, strong holds and attack on the ball in the air. Goal attack Tiana Metuarau replaced Ekenasio midway through the quarter and made an immediate impact thanks to her vision. Though Metuarau did not put a shot up it was her work across the court that did the damage getting into clever attacking positions and drawing the attention of her opponent to leave Dunn under the post one on one. Claire Kersten is an unsung hero for the Pulse using her speed, read of the play and two-way running to apply defensive pressure and then transition into attack to continuously impact the play. For the Stars, Australian youngster, Charlee Hodges came into the game in the second term with her lovely timing and high release shot on display slotting five goals from six attempts, while her work out the front increased coming out hard to receive the ball at the centre pass. Retiring centre and veteran of the sport, Temepara Bailey showcased her experience and netball nous taking charge in the attack end with her strong drives and ball placement into the shooters.

With half-time done and dusted the Central Pulse came out firing capitalising on the most of their opportunities and converting under the post while starving the Stars of chances in the circle. They lifted their defensive pressure with Katrina Rore showcasing her hands over pressure and read of the play with two gains for the quarter and two deflections. The shooting load also even upped for the Pulse with Ekenasio posting four goals while Dunn continued what she does best scoring nine goals from 10 attempts. Stars wing defence Kayla Cullen made her presence felt on the court limiting Souness while also getting her hands to ball to try and keep her side in it racking up one gain and one intercept. Her attacking play was also important for the Stars providing good drive through the midcourt. Storm Purvis worked tirelessly throughout the game and with ball streaming down court with ease however she applied good strong defensive pressure to gather three deflections credit to her ability to read the play. With the Stars attack end struggling to penetrate the Pulse defence Bailey pushed back into wing attack using her clever ball placement to feed into the circle while Holly Fowler made her way into centre but it was not enough with the Stars heading into the three quarter time break down by six goals.

With the premiership on the line, the Stars came hard scoring easier and transitioning down the court with more fluidity. After spending the third quarter on the bench Mila Reuelu-Buchanan reappeared making her presence felt in the attacking third with her ability to find the circle edge. Her work to bring the ball down the court was important for the Stars taking a bulk of the centre passes while using her vision to bomb into the goal circle. But in the end, it was a little too late for the Stars with the Pulse holding on. Pulse wing defence Karin Burger had a relatively quiet game but played her role limiting the influence of her direct opponent and applying good strong hands over pressure. Wilson finished with 34 from 41 at 83 per cent with Hodges slotting 14 from 20, while up the other end Pulse shooters Dunn scored 40 from 43 at 93 per cent with Ekenasio down on her usual shooting capacity converting 12 from 19.