T&T international netballer, Kalifa Mc Collin had mix weekend in the Netball New Zealand ANZ Premiership, first leading her Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel to an upset of third place Northern Mystics on Friday, before falling to table leaders Te Wanaga o Raukawa Central Pulse a day later.
On Saturday, Mc Collin who is nursing an injured ankle had another solid outing but it was not enough as the Central Pulse rebounded in style to break their Invercargill duck at the ILT Stadium Soutland outplaying the Steel 49-34.
Coming off their first loss of the season, the Pulse were in imperious form in gaining their first win at the venue since the inception of the ANZ Premiership in 2017.
Facing their second big challenge in two days after upsetting the Northern Mystics, Mc Collin and the Steel could not reproduce their heroics or intent of 24 hours earlier and were on the back-foot from the outset against the Pulse.
After a flurry of early turnovers, it was the Pulse who settled the best before going on to stamp their mark on a dominant opening quarter., 16-7 with Mc Collin scoring four of five attempts and Ellen Halpenny, three from four attempts as the long reaches of in-circle defenders Katrina Rore and Kelly Jury caused all sorts of problems for the Steel shooters.
Dogged mid-courter Kendall Corkery replaced Kate Heffernan at wing defence for the home side on the resumption as the Steel showed a stronger resolve to compete on more level terms.
Steel which failed to string enough phases together as the visitors went to the main break well-placed when leading 26-16, then 38-23 before recording victory.
Both teams made changes for differing reasons in the run home, the Steel to give others opportunities while the Pulse with another game to play on Monday, taking the opportunity to give seasoned veterans Rore and Claire Kersten a break.
In the end, Pulse racked up an 11th win from 12 matches and three left to play while the Steel stayed second from bottom on the six-team table with four ins from 14 matches and 19 points, ahead of their final match against The Good Oil Tactix on August 16.
On Friday, Mc Collin, 25, and her team-mates had much better fortune as they celebrated their long-awaited return to Invercargill by upsetting high flying Northern Mystics 51-47.
Coming off a double loss last weekend and residing near the foot of the table, goal shoot Mc Collin and the injury-ravaged Steel had to dig deep to hold out a late-charging Mystics and retain the much-coveted Georgie Salter Memorial Trophy.
On the other hand, and riding high after scoring an upset win over the previously unbeaten Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse in the previous round, the Mystics never recovered from a slow start.
The Mystics stayed third with seven wins from 12 matches and 30 points, two behind second placed The Good Oil Tactix, while Pulse leads with 45 points from 12 matches.
Individually, Mc Collin, now sits fifth on the goals per attempts leaderboard with 262 from 313 attempts at 84 per cent shooting average, and her teammates return to action against Pulse while on Sunday, T&T goal defence Daystar Swift and Robinhood Northern Stars, fourth on the table with 21 points from 12 matches face Magic.