Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic player Ellen Halpenny. Photo/File
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic player Ellen Halpenny. Photo/File
The Magic's hopes of a top-two finish - and with it an extra life in the transtasman league playoffs - have taken a dive after they surrendered second spot on the ladder to the NSW Swifts in Sydney yesterday.
Ranked just ahead of the Swifts going into yesterday's clash byvirtue of their superior goal percentage, the Magic were seeking to go two-points clear of their rivals and join the table-topping Melbourne Vixens on 18 points. But the Swifts had the same idea - and better execution.
After competing strongly with the homeside through much of the opening half, the Magic slipped off the pace in the third period as pushed passes and other basic attacking errors began to take their toll. The introduction of young shooter Malia Paseka late in the third spell saw the Magic's shooting accuracy drop off and their error-rate around the circle climb, preventing some impressive late defensive stops from Casey Kopua and Leana de Bruin making much of an impact on the scoresheet.
Kopua, who pulled in seven rebounds, two intercepts and had her hand in forcing several other turnovers, said she was disappointed her side lost so much possession through soft turnovers.
"Down the defensive end we had [that urgency], I just wish we had a bit more mongrel throughout the court," the Magic captain said. "I just think it was silly stuff we were doing, playing against the Aussie sides we can't just run, we have to do the preliminary work off the ball first to make sure we're free."
The 12-goal loss saw the Magic drop to fourth on the ladder, just below their final round opponents, the Queensland Firebirds, on goal percentage. But next week's meeting between the pair will likely only determine finishing order as, even if the fifth-placed Pulse secure a win against the Fever in Perth next week, their goal percentage is significantly lower than both the Firebirds and Magic after their 27-goal capitulation to the Queensland side on Saturday.
Kopua said her side would be approaching next week's match in Hamilton as a must-win, especially after their disappointing showing last night.
"Losing sucks, but to be honest I don't care if we are between 1 and 4, so long as we are in the four. But our backs are against the wall now and we need to go out there and prove we deserve to be in the finals."
The Magic started strongly against the Swifts, with Jo Harten and Ellen Halpenny combining for some impressive patches of play to see the visitors trail by just one goal at the first break. But it wasn't long before the Swifts defence began to wear the visitors down in the second period, forcing the Magic into costly errors to restrict them to just nine goals for the period. They were five goals down at the long break.
