KEY POINTS:
The Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic are hoping they have found a purple patch of form at just the right time as they head into the semifinals of the transtasman league.
The minor premiers meet the second-placed Swifts in the major semifinal in Hamilton tomorrow, with the winner earning
direct passage to the ANZ Championship final.
After a string of indifferent performances, the Magic took a huge step up last weekend with a clinical and ruthless display in their 25-goal win over the Canterbury Tactix. But the Magic will have to take a few more steps up if they are to produce the same sort of precision on attack against the tight marking of the Swifts.
Magic coach Noeline Taurua said she will be looking for speed and accuracy from her attacking end.
"We really want to pick up from where we left off last week. We need to just be able to turn and let the ball go and be a bit more precise with the ball," she said.
With this in mind the midcourt match-up between wily veterans Amigene Metcalfe and Selina Gilsenan will be one of the crucial contests in this game. Metcalfe is the key playmaker for the Waikato side _ when the Magic captain isn't firing the whole attack end suffers for it. But she will have a battle on her hands against the nuggety Gilsenan, who Australian coach Norma Plummer rates as the best exponent of man-to-man defence in the game.
Just how the attack end shapes up could also depend on where Taurua opts to play her two shooters. The Magic coach last week raised a few eyebrows by starting Irene van Dyk at goal-attack and shifting Maria Tutaia back to goal-shoot. It was somewhat of a gamble on Taurua's part, but one that paid off, with the Magic appearing a lot more fluid on attack than in previous weeks.
"I sat back and thought `you're mad Noeline' but then I think it worked extremely well. I think it showed what a true champion Irene is, because she just made the most of the fact that she was out there and I think she really nailed it," said Swifts coach Julie Fitzgerald.
The veteran coach said her side are prepared for whatever combination Taurua throws at them.
"It's something we've talked a lot about because I'm sure it's something that's seriously in her mind, which way she goes on Sunday I don't know, but I'd say she'd definitely be considering it."
The Swifts themselves head in to the match on the back of some impressive form, having racked up seven straight wins.
The strength in the NSW side undoubtedly lies in their attack end. Their ball movement throughout the midcourt is slick and accurate and the Sydney side have two of the best finishers in the game in Catherine Cox and Susan Pratley _ a point Taurua is acutely aware of.
"That attacking end of the Swifts, that's where their firepower is. They've been scoring up in the 60s and they look very impressive," said Taurua.
The challenge for the Magic defenders will be to try to upset the rhythm of the visitors and disrupt the lines they run.
The sides that have proved successful at doing that this season have generally done so by using bullying tactics. But Taurua said her side won't be resorting to these methods tomorrow as she doesn't want the game to become an arm wrestle.
"We really want to just keep a free-flowing game like what we produced at the weekend. We want to involve the umpire as little as possible, because as soon as you do it slows the game down and you lose that flow," she said.
Taurua has issued a directive for her side to go out and hunt the ball and look for clean intercepts. So far this season the Magic's space-marking style of defence has proved very effective particularly through the midcourt, which sets up good ball for the defensive trio of Joline Henry, Jodi Tod and Casey Williams at the back.
Man-for-man Taurua believes her side stack up pretty well.
"I think with games like this it's going to be a mental battle more than anything. It's all about the head and maintaining that intensity."
MAGIC v SWIFTS
Mystery Creek, Hamilton, 5.30pm tomorrow, live Sky Sport
