There is still one round to play but Nova Thunder have already secured their best finish in Newcastle championship netball after beating University of Newcastle for the first time in round 14 at National Park on Saturday.
Nova trailed by two goals at the first break but led 21-18 at half-time then 31-27 heading into the final quarter before winning 42-39.
The win moved third-placed Thunder to 36 points. They have an unassailable four-point gap over West Leagues Balance (32) in fourth and are within striking distance of second-placed University (38).
Souths (40 points) took a two-point lead at the top of the table by beating BNC Whanau 60-32.
Both Nova and University were missing players due to NSW Premier League commitments, injury and unavailability.
"We only had a seven-man team," Nova player-coach Laura Glendenning said. "Alexa Walker played a full game of opens then came up and played a full game for us. She played goal keeper and had an absolute blinder. But honestly, a full team effort was required and was performed.
"We were quite clinical. We executed where we needed to. We missed a few goals and had to turn some ball over, but we worked so hard defensively and our attack was really fluent."
The win came after Nova had also beaten West for the first time in round 12 two weeks earlier. They put up a good fight before going down 59-46 to Souths in round 13 and get another shot at the Lions next weekend in their final hit-out before semi-finals.
"We've kind of had the fourth voodoo sitting over us for a number of years," Glendenning said.
"We've always made the top four but been that fourth team and have struggled to execute our wins over the top three. But to show that we've beaten West and we've beaten Uni, and we've been super competitive with Souths, it's really good for our confidence.
"Everyone is starting to believe a little bit small that we can pull these wins out. We've just got to dig that little bit deeper and play a bit harder for each other, and that's exactly what we're starting to do."
West Leagues Balance were 66-31 winners over Inner Glow (21) and Kotara South (19) beat Junction Stella (25) 55-40.
In the NSW Premier League grand final at Ken Rosewell Arena on Saturday night, University shooter Sabina Gomboso tasted championship glory as North Shore United beat Central Coast Heart 62-51.
Erin Asquith (Nova), Maddie Taylor and Sammie Chicken (West), Maddi Mueller (Kotara South) plus Newcastle products Zoe Peden and Dakota Thomas were in the Heart team.
Round 14:
Nova Thunder beat University of Newcastle 42-39. Q1: Uni led 11-9; Q2: Nova led 21-18; Q3: Nova led 31-27.
Kotara South defeated Junction Stella 55-40. Q1: Kotara South led 15-11; Q2: Kotara South led 30-24; Q3: Kotara South led 44-33.
Souths Lions beat BNC Whanau 60-32. Q1: Souths led 14-8; Q2: Souths led 29-14; Q3: Souths led 43-25.
West Leagues Balance defeated Inner Glow 66-31. Q1: West led 19-7; Q2: West led 31-20; Q3: West led 48-26.
Points: Souths 40, University 38, Nova 36, West 32, Junction 25, Inner Glow 21, Kotara South 19, BNC 19.
