Sweet Magic put spell on Sting

Punters may have written them off but Irene van Dyk says Waikato Bay of Plenty's desire to win the National Bank Cup is stronger than ever.

Magic's two losses on the trot heading into last night's top-of-the-table semifinal against Sting in Invercargill cast doubt over the 2005 champion's chances of a repeat. But they silenced the critics last night with an emphatic 61-51 victory over a hapless Sting. The important win will see Magic going straight to the final in a fortnight while the southerners face a second-life semifinal next week.

Van Dyk was confident going in last night, promising "we'll be sweet we'll play fantastic netball".

And they did just that with deliberate, precise play, solid links through the court and excellent back-up on the loose ball to ensure as little lost possession as possible. It was a clinical performance against an off-the-boil home side who struggled to get anything going.

Magic goal keep Casey Williams earned herself the player of the match title with a dominant performance that saw her snaffle seven of her team's 15 intercepts. At the other end van Dyk netted 43 from 44 shots and had excellent back-up from Tanya Lund who played with renewed confidence.

After a couple of weeks of being double-teamed by defenders, van Dyk was given plenty of room to move last night, up against a type of defence she prefers and one which opened up all options.

"The Sting defenders aren't all over you like some of the others are," van Dyk said. "It's cleaner and you can come round them - I wouldn't say it's easier but it means you can concentrate on doing the basics and following through."

Van Dyk said she was "pretty happy" with where her own game was at and was confident Magic had overcome the difficulties that saw them lose two matches on the trot.

"I think we're back on track now," she said.

The proof of that was in last night's result, Magic edging ahead in the first quarter and furthering their lead to 33-23 by halftime, heading into the final spell up 51-36. Sting looked like coming back at Magic in patches in both the second and fourth quarters but was unable to sustain the pressure.

Magic provided a surprise factor by putting shooter Kiri Adams, who has been warming the bench, at wing attack where she added height and helped take the pressure off Lund. Magic coach Noeline Taurua said Adams was a bit rusty in some areas but proved just the ingredient needed to provide an extra boost for the team.

While Adams hadn't played wing attack for "a long time", she had been "busting at the seams" to get on court and would've played anywhere, Taurua said.

She was a very satisfied coach after the match, going in knowing there was a second life on offer and aiming simply to see Magic step up from the lows of the last two weeks.

What she got was a whole lot more and Taurua now has two weeks to keep the momentum going to prepare her team for their second consecutive final, which will this year be played on home turf, at Mystery Creek.

The other semifinal, between Force and Flames, will be played tomorrow and the winner of that match will play the second-life semi against Sting next week before Magic host the final.