Magic tick sought for QEYC

There's a lot more riding on tomorrow's clash between Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic and Force than a win _ there's a home semifinal at stake.
Tauranga's Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre, rejected for a home final last year because it failed to make the grade, will be under the Netball New Zealand microscope.
The venue is sold out for the final National Bank Cup round-robin clash tomorrow, which will act as a test run for a possible home semifinal next Friday night. There are still some questions over seating, despite a recent revamp.
The annual Fieldays mean Mystery Creek is unavailable next week if the team earns a home semifinal and Rotorua's Sportsdrome isn't big enough with a capacity of 2500 required.
The backup "home" venue, if the Tauranga centre is rejected again, is the Trust Stadium at Waitakere, Auckland.
But that would mean sharing the takings with the Diamonds franchise and fans having to negotiate already clogged highways and motorways for the Friday night match.
Despite the question mark still hanging over the QEYC, both the Magic franchise and Netball New Zealand seem more positive this time.
The venue will be set up tomorrow as if it were a semifinal, allowing officials to see if it's up to scratch.
The venue's pre-revamp shortcomings were evident at last year's semifinal with some spectators unable to see the game properly and little room for anyone to move.
Tomorrow will show if the improvements made are enough to make it a viable semifinal venue.
Netball New Zealand chief executive Shelley McMeeken said all semifinal venues would be confirmed on Sunday, following the last of the round-robin matches.
"Netball New Zealand requested the opportunity to view the suggested semifinal configuration at the round-robin game (in Tauranga) to ensure clarity around requirements and it's great Magic were able to achieve this," she said.
Magic received a reality check last weekend when the Auckland Diamonds threw the semifinals race wide open with an upset two-goal win.
That result left the Magic sharing top place with Southern Sting, with the Force two points adrift in third. The Diamonds and Canterbury Flames are one point behind the Force in equal fourth.
Magic need at least a bonus point _ a loss of less than five goals _ to ensure a semifinal but want the No 1 or 2 spot which will require a victory over a Force side also needing a bonus point, simply to make the top four.
Magic coach Noeline Taurua expects Force to apply similar spoiling tactics to those employed last week by Diamonds' defenders who wore star shooter Irene van Dyk down and chipped away at Magic's attack, forcing errors.
Taurua got the rugby tackle bags out at training this week to help prepare her players for another physical encounter and said Magic would be concentrating on maximising gains.
"Our structured play is good but we need to concentrate on scoring from any gains we make. We get a hell of a lot of bonus ball but don't always score from it which stresses us out," Taurua said.
Force coach Yvonne Willering is looking for a big lift in all areas from her team, who have played well in patches through the season, but been plagued by lapses of concentration during games.
"At the end of the day we really want to get into this top four on our own efforts and not on the demise of someone else," Willering said.