THE Central Pulse remain undefeated this ANZ Premiership season after a big win over the Southern Steel. The Pulse were made to work for their win, but fought off everything the Stars threw at them to take the win.

After a goal-for-goal start to the clash, the Pulse capitalised on a flying Parris Mason and the Stars being reduced to six players to take the early buffer, but once the Stars got their full numbers back they were able to draw level again.

The rest of the quarter remained tight, but it was not until the final couple of minutes of the term that the Pulse finally got ahead, and as such took a four-goal lead into the first change.

The Pulse continued to dominate early in the second term – so much so the margin stretched out to 10 goals – but the Stars finally kicked into gear in the back end of the quarter and reduced the margin down to seven by the time the half-time whistle went. Maia Wilson was on a roll under the ring and momentum was with the Stars.

Their momentum did not last long though as the Pulse scored four of the first five goals of the term to re-establish control.

That poor start kept the Stars on the back foot, but they did only score four less goals or the quarter than their opponents. However, this still meant that the margin was 11 goals at the final change.

It all started to finally click for the Stars in the fourth term and they actually went on to win the quarter, but they did not win the quarter by anywhere near enough to take the points.

Kelly Jackson had a massive game for the Pulse, picking up a whopping eight gains, while Whitney Souness also had a strong game. Meanwhile for the Stars, Kate Burley was a rock in defence, while Mila Reuelu-Buchanan was a star in midcourt.

In other results:

• The Tactix bounced back from their first loss of the season emphatically, defeating the Steel by nine goals.

The Tactix slowly but surely grew their lead as the match progressed, so that when the Steel went on to win the last quarter the margin was still big enough that the Tactix still won.

Kimiora Poi and Erikana Pedersen both had big games in midcourt for the Tactix, as did Kate Heffernan for the Steel.

• The Northern Mystics continued to get some winning momentum back into their season after a 10-goal win over the Magic.

The Magic were ultimately let down by a poor first half, with the Magic’s inability to score more than eight goals a quarter really coming back to hurt them in the second half.

Tayla Earle and Elisapeta Toeava both had monster games in midcourt for the Mystics, while Erena Mikaere and Claire O’Brien starred for the Magic.