Netball: Auckland sides missing in action

By RICHARD BOOCK

Auckland netball plumbed new depths at the weekend when all three local franchises missed out on the national league semifinals for the first time in the competition's history.

At about the same time as the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic were celebrating their first Coca-Cola Cup playoffs berth in four attempts, the North Shore-based Force were trying to come to terms with the fact they had been eliminated from the competition with the Auckland Diamonds and the Counties Manukau-based Cometz.

The Force, who had the bye in the final weekend of the round-robin, watched helplessly as first the Capital Shakers pipped the Magic 55-54 in Hamilton on Saturday night to secure one semifinal spot, and then the Southern Sting overwhelmed the Canterbury Flames 59-47 in Christchurch yesterday to cement another.

The last-ditch efforts meant the defending champions, the Sting, ended the round-robin at the top of the table with 26 points, followed by the Flames, the Shakers and the Magic on 25, and the fifth-placed Force on 24.

The Shakers will head south to take on the Sting at Invercargill's Stadium Southland in the first semi, on Friday night, and the Flames will host the Magic in the second, on Sunday.

Magic coach Ruth Aitken said you would never have known her side had just made history after they snatched an all-important bonus point in the cliffhanger on Saturday night.

The point was enough to guarantee the Magic a place in the playoffs despite the loss against the desperate Shakers, although a win would have meant a home semifinal in Hamilton.

"We were gutted," Aitken said of the result at Mystery Creek. "We really wanted to win the match and host one of the semis. Even though the bonus point put us through, everyone was very disappointed. It certainly didn't look like history.

"But making the semifinals for the first time is definitely something to be proud of and we're looking forward to heading down to Christchurch on Friday."

The Flames will also be regrouping during the build-up to that showdown after being systematically dismantled by the Sting at Cowles Stadium yesterday, losing by 12 goals and slipping down a place to second on the competition ladder.

It was an ominous performance from the Sting, who went into the match knowing that while a win would leave them at the top of the table, a loss would mean they would miss out on the playoffs altogether.

The Invercargill side were in front by just a goal at the first quarter break but charged out to a 28-20 lead at halftime, thanks to some excellent transition out of defence, and some outstanding shooting from Janine Topia, who finished the half with 18 from 19.

The Sting consolidated their lead in the third quarter, which they shared 16-16, before racing away to take the last period 15-11.

Sting coach Robyn Broughton said her side had worked hard after last week's two-goal loss against the Magic and praised Topia, who she said had answered some critics.

"Janie's had questions asked of her shooting, 'Is she good enough?' sort of things, but we've always had faith in her and she justified that today."

The season has come to a premature and sudden end for Auckland netball supporters.

The Force were desperately unlucky, losing only twice in the round-robin, but the Cometz finished bottom without a win and the Diamonds ended their campaign seventh out of nine.

In the previous three years of the cup, the Diamonds were the sole Auckland qualifiers in 1998, the Force and the Diamonds made it through in 1999 and the Force were on their own last year, when they scraped in as the fourth seeds.