Netball: Magic run out of tricks as Flames roar into final

By RICHARD BOOCK

All the potions in the world could not save the Magic from this one.

The side who carried Waikato/Bay of Plenty to unprecedented heights in this season's national league were knocked out at the semifinal stage by the Canterbury Flames yesterday after suffering a cruel blow in the game's opening minutes.

Eventually losing 48-53 at Christchurch's Cowles Stadium, the Magic were in the thick of the action for most of the game despite losing influential goal-attack Renee Jacobson in the third minute and tumbling to a nine-goal deficit in the first half.

The result sets up a rematch of last year's Coca-Cola Cup final, and leaves the Flames with the task of venturing into the cauldron of Invercargill's Stadium Southland this Saturday to challenge the defending champions, the Sting.

The Sting overwhelmed Wellington's Capital Shakers 60-49 in a coliseum-like atmosphere in the first semifinal on Friday night, leading to complaints about the behaviour of the capacity, 4100-strong crowd, who reportedly either booed or ignored the visiting side.

Shakers players complained afterwards that their bench were harangued, that the team were booed and that the public address announcer started congratulating the home team on making the finals before the game had even ended.

Happily, the Magic were free of crowd abuse in Christchurch, but still found themselves behind the 8-ball at the start of the game when Jacobson, one of their unsung heroes this season, landed awkwardly during the opening stanzas and injured her left knee.

Her departure robbed the Magic of any initiative or momentum they might have been generating at the start of the game, and forced coach Ruth Aitken to introduce replacement goal-attack Hikitia Gallagher for the first time this season.

With Magic goal-shoot and former basketballer Julie Kelman-Poto in just her second year of netball, the talented Jacobson sidelined and Gallagher short on game time, the setback proved too great for the Magic, and the Flames were able to exhale with a couple of minutes remaining.

But the win did not come without a huge battle through the middle of the game.

Crippled temporarily by Jacobson's absence, the Magic were behind 9-16 at the first-quarter break before roaring back into contention with a 13-9 turnaround, and trailed by just 22-24 at halftime.

Although working with a makeshift shooting combination, the Magic mid-court of Amigene Metcalfe, Jenny-May Coffin and Victoria Edward ensured the visitors were competitive at both ends of the court, leading to another epic battle through the third quarter, which was shared 15-15.

Ahead 39-37 at the start of the final period, the Flames made a couple of crucial breaks soon after the resumption and were able to ride a six and seven-goal lead down the stretch, thanks mainly to some excellent shooting from Angela Evans, who made up for a haphazard effort from captain Belinda Colling.

Coffin agreed that the experience would undoubtedly benefit the Magic in next year's campaign, but for the moment her players were unable to think of anything but the missed opportunity.

"Bugger," she said, when asked for a reaction. "We were in it; we clawed out way back after a slow start and then we let it slip again at the start of the last quarter.

"At this level, a mistake like that can mean the game. It wasn't anything you could put your finger on, a stray pass here, a missed shot there, but we needed to push on and in the end we weren't up to it.

"We always said it was all about consistency."