Netball: New Zealand umpiring frustrates coach

Queensland Firebirds coach Vicki Wilson hit out at the "frustrating" and "confusing"calls from the Kiwi umpires in her side's 56-50 loss to the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in Rotorua last night.

New Zealand proved an unhappy hunting ground for Australian sides in round 10 of the ANZ Championship with the Melbourne Vixens suffering a shock loss to the Southern Steel in Invercargill.

Both visiting sides seemed to struggle to adjust to the different interpretations of the local umpires and as a result the penalty count was heavily stacked in the home side's favour. The aggressive style of defence typical of the Australian play earned the wrath of the umpires here, whereas their counterparts across the Tasman let a lot more infringements go.

In yesterday's top of the table clash the Firebirds racked up incredible 69 obstruction and contact infringements, compared with the Magic's 47.

"What was frustrating was the way the game was umpired and the inconsistency and particularly not knowing what the hell was going on with this injury time," the former Australian shooter said.

"I did think there was some inconsistency from one of the umpires in the way a quarter was umpired from one quarter to the next. So every time you came out you didn't know what was going to be called."

The highly-anticipated clash between Casey Williams and giant Jamaican shooter Romelda Aiken proved to be worth the hype, with an almighty battle between the pair.

Williams produced some stunning intercepts and rebounded strongly, while Aiken's used her 1.96m frame to play a strong holding game.

Magic coach Noeline Taurua made some surprise changes to her line-up with Halana Leith coming into the run-on seven at wing-attack. Leith's inclusion forced Amigene Metcalfe, Laura Langman and Joline Henry each to move back a place.

The raft of changes initially appeared an ill-fated move, with the Magic failing to settle into a rhythm.

Spurred on by sublime work from Williams, the Magic set about overturning an early deficit, producing an 11-3 run for a 29-27 halftime lead.

The Magic extended their lead by three more goals inside the first minute of the third spell, and kept the Firebirds chasing for the rest of the game.

In the other match-up of the weekend, the Canterbury Tactix suffered a 61-41 defeat to the Adelaide Thunderbirds.