Magic 54
Swifts 49
The Magic have finally found the right potion at just the right time, blitzing their way into the transtasman league grand final with a dominant performance against the NSW Swifts in Newcastle.
The five-goal win - just the Magic's second on Australian soil in three seasons - sets up a
juicy title clash against new foes the Adelaide Thunderbirds, who knocked the Waikato/Bay of Plenty side out of last year's playoffs in a heated clash.
It's a position few would have tipped the Magic to be in just a few weeks ago.
Over the last couple of years the star-studded side have stumbled come playoffs time. And when the Magic suffered a marked drop-off in form over the latter rounds of the competition, there were sighs of "here we go again" echoing around the country.
Either the Magic did a remarkable job of playing possum in those weeks leading up to the playoffs, or their more intensive preparation has paid big dividends.
Magic super shooter Irene van Dyk - one of the stars in a brilliant team effort yesterday, netting an incredible 44 of her 45 shots at goal - said her side have worked hard in ironing out the kinks in their play over the past few weeks.
"There were things that we had to sort out, and then all of a sudden it just came together today," said an ecstatic van Dyk.
Just as sudden as the Magic's turnaround in form has been the Swifts' rapid decline. After becoming the first side to go through the ANZ Championship season unbeaten, the Sydney side were red-hot favourites to go on and claim their second transtasman title.
But chinks in the Swifts' armour began to appear last week when they squandered their finals lifeline, losing 38-52 to the Thunderbirds in the major semifinal.
Just as the Adelaide side had done the week before, the Magic were able to make the typically slick Swifts attack line look ordinary.
Casey Williams and Jodi Tod made their presence felt early on, upsetting the rhythm of courageous Swifts captain Catherine Cox - who broke her nose in last week's loss to the Thunderbirds - and Susan Pratley from the outset, restricting the pair to just 73 per cent accuracy in the first quarter.
The in-circle defenders were well supported by Laura Langman and Jade Clarke, who did an impressive job of slowing the delivery of ball into the circle, forcing the Swifts midcourt into second and third-phase play.
"I'm gutted, absolutely gutted," said a visibly upset Cox. But Cox took some heart from her side's late fightback in which they whittled a big deficit heading into the final break into a more respectable five-goal loss.
A Kiwi side can't board a flight across the Tasman without these unflattering statistics being thrown at them: just one win from 40 matches on Australian soil. Having one New Zealand and one Australian in charge of finals games was always going to help level the playing field for the Magic, but it was nevertheless a daunting record to overcome.
