Netball: Magic throw down gauntlet

By JULIE ASH

The Magic proved they have a serious chance of ending the Sting's reign in the national netball league after casting aside the Force in Hamilton yesterday.

After three rounds of the National Bank Cup the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic join the Southern Sting and the Canterbury Flames at the top of the leaderboard after their 54-42 win over the star-studded Force.

For the second week in a row the Force had more attempts at goal but managed to secure only 42 from 66 compared with the Magic's 54 from 63.

"When the shots go in it lifts the whole team," said Force coach Yvonne Willering.

"It is hard, the Magic have got strength in all areas of the court ... when you get possession you want it finished off."

In front of a record crowd of 2500 the home side hit their straps early which resulted in a two-goal advantage at the end of the first quarter.

The challenge for the Force was always going to be stopping the bombs into Magic shooting ace Irene van Dyk - something they more often than not failed to do.

The Magic led by four at halftime and extended their lead to 41-33 at the three-quarter break.

The Magic midcourt trio of Jenny-May Coffin, Renee Jacobsen and Laura Langman created a number of turnovers while Jolene Henry and Leana du Plooy did a great job of restricting the Force shooters.

The Waikato side went 10 up early in the final quarter which was always going to be too much for the Force to peg back.

"Today we needed our midcourt to be stronger on defence that is where we lost it," Willering said.

"We crowded the court and it became about everyone helping out rather than everyone doing their own jobs."

Magic captain Coffin said her side went into the match confident with their own game plan.

"This was time for us to step up and we did. We eliminated some, not all, of the areas we have been talking about in the previous games like getting off to a good start and taking possession of the ball which we did."

Despite convincing wins over the Diamonds, Rebels and the Force, Coffin said the key for her side was not to get too far ahead of themselves.

"It is back to the drawing board, to be quite honest. We could be quite happy with this and go to training and just keep doing the same old stuff ... there is still lots to work on."

With just one win so far in the competition the Force have a chance of getting their campaign back on track this weekend when they face the winless Western Flyers in New Plymouth.

"All is not lost," Willering said. "We are looking for a top-four placing, that is what it is all about.

"But it means that the rest of the games are crucial. We have to win the rest of our games. We don't have the luxury of experimenting."

In other matches over the weekend Lois Muir's Otago Rebels picked up their first win of the competition beating the Western Flyers 54-35.

The Southern Sting showed they were not affected by the loss of shooting ace Tania Dalton by trouncing the Auckland Diamonds 62-42 while the Canterbury Flames beat the Capital Shakers 48-26.