SINGAPORE – With less than a minute to go and trailing by just a goal, the Sneakers Stingrays were in the driver’s seat to equalise against defending champions Blaze Dolphins in the Deloitte Netball Super League (NSL) final.

But miscommunication led to a turnover and Lee Pei Shan from the Dolphins coolly scored the last goal to secure her side’s 43-41 victory and retain their title on Sunday.

The Dolphins’ win also ended the Stingrays’ hopes of an unbeaten season and coach Wang Jing Qing was proud of her charges’ performance.

The Dolphins had lost by two goals in the season opener before a heavy 64-35 defeat in the second round, but Wang said the team was more composed this time.

Wang, who was also named Most Valuable Coach, added: “The scores were very tight and even when we were trailing, they didn’t give up and continued putting pressure on their opponents.”

Co-captain Khor Ting Fang, who earlier shed tears as she embraced her teammates at the final whistle, admitted she did not expect the result.

Beaming, she said: “Today, we came with the idea that we had nothing to lose, we’re the underdogs. So we just tried to do we can and leave it all out on court.

“We were a lot more calm today. We didn’t panic and steadily played our own game – that’s what helped us reduce our error rate.”

The teams put up a fine display of fast-paced netball to the delight of over 400 spectators at Our Tampines Hub who cheered every goal and turnover in the thrilling final.

The Stingrays led 23-22 at half-time, but the Dolphins fought back to lead 34-32 after the third quarter.

They then endured some nervy moments in the last period as the Stingrays appeared to be on the verge of a comeback, but Lee ensured it did not materialise even after Amandeep Kaur Chah...