Netball: Mystics complete miserable Aussie run

Mystic Kayla Cullen gets the ball knocked out from her by Melbourne Vixens' Tegan Phillip. Photo / Jason Dorday

Bad night for Tutaia to have a ‘mare’ with her shooting as home team tumble.

Vixens 56
Mystics48

It was a test of credibility, and the Northern Mystics failed.

The Auckland side last night finished off the ANZ Championship regular season without a win against an Australian rival after being dispatched by the Melbourne Vixens at Trusts Stadium on the back of a wonky shooting performance.

While their place atop the New Zealand conference has been locked in for a couple of weeks, it was vital the Mystics beat the Vixens, who sit fourth in the Australian conference and will not feature in the playoffs this year, to avoid the embarrassment of securing the top spot without beating an Aussie outfit.

The Mystics failure to do so will only add to calls for transtasman league bosses to scrap the conference system.

The competitiveness of the Kiwi teams is lagging well behind their Australian counterparts.

But of more immediate concern for the Auckland side is how they will fare in this year's finals given their inability to stand up to the Australian style of play this season.

The Auckland side are unbeaten against their domestic rivals this season, but their results against the Australian teams are not so compelling.

They have been soundly beaten by the Fever (16 goals), Firebirds (6) and Swifts (16), and now the Vixens (8) with a round-three draw against the Thunderbirds in Adelaide the only point the Mystics have taken from their five transtasman clashes this year.

The Mystics will at least take some solace in the fact they had every opportunity to beat the visitors, having put up five more shots at goal than the opposition.

Mystics skipper Maria Tutaia had one of her worst shooting performance in recent memory, landing just 16 of her 31 attempts.

It was a terrible time for Tutaia to go missing, with Mystics sharpshooter Cathrine Latu only able to play a limited role in the match after picking up an illness during the week.

Latu was introduced for the final spell with the Mystics trailing 42-38, but was unable to make much of an impact as the homeside's desperate efforts to chase down the Vixens lead saw their execution drop away as they attempted to hail mary plays.

They were also up against a determined Vixens outfit, who were desperate to farewell their skipper and former Australian international Bianca Chatfield on a high after what has been a tough season for the defending champions.

They lost star midcourter Madison Robinson to a serious knee injury mid-way through the season, while one of the team's other big names, English international Geva Mentor, has battled a niggly knee injury.

Mentor did not make the trip to Auckland after undergoing minor knee surgery on her knee during the week.

The Mystics will have a week to regroup before facing the winner of this Saturday's elimination match between the Magic and Steel in the New Zealand conference final.