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The Waikato-Bay Of Plenty Magic showed why they’re title favourites in the trans-Tasman netball league with a 56-50 win over the Queensland Firebirds in Rotorua tonight.
The two teams went into the ANZ Championship match as the top two sides, with the Magic proving superior to extend their lead in the competition.
The Magic have now won eight of their nine games and have 16 points.
The Firebirds are second on percentage and remain on 12 points tied with Adelaide Thunderbirds, who beat the Canterbury Tactix by 20 points today, and Melbourne Vixens.
With four rounds remaining, four Australian teams continue to lurk behind the Magic on the points table.
Tonight’s game was evenly matched in the first half with the Firebirds leading 13-11 after the first quarter and the Magic having a 29-27 advantage at halftime.
The 1.96m tall Jamaican goal shooter Romelda Aiken was a handful for the Magic in the first half, to the extent the crowd cheered each time she was denied the ball.
But in the second half the Magic tightened their defence and mistakes crept in for the Firebirds with misdirected high-balls intended for Aiken in the goal area.
The Magic stepped up the pace and at times were able to send the ball down court with speed while their defence regularly pounced rebounds under the goal.
Firebirds captain Peta Stephens said the Magic took a while to find top form tonight.
“Maybe they were a little bit slow out of the box,” Stephens said on Sky Sport.
“But I think their defensive pressure really picked up in the last three quarters of the game and just outmuscled us to the ball a lot of the time.”
The Firebirds, playing their first game in New Zealand, went into the final quarter down by five goals and in the desperation to bridge the gap their attack faltered.
Magic’s captain Amigene Metcalfe expressed satisfaction with the win.
“We are quite happy with that performance today,” Metcalfe said.
“The Firebirds are a quality side and I thought we performed well.”
The accuracy of opposing goal shooters Aiken and Irene van Dyke were almost identical.
Van Dyke scored 40 from 48 attempts at 83 per cent accuracy and Aiken 39 from 46 shots at 85 per cent. Maria Tutaia chimed in with 16 goals from 21 shots for the Magic.