Netball: Magic end Mystics' streak

Magic shooter Irene van Dyk had a lofty one-on-one battle with Mystics defender Althea Byfield. Photo / Getty Images

Mystics 46 Magic 55

Defensive pressure from the start, more room in the shooting circle and a five-goal buffer early in the first quarter helped the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic notch their second win and the Northern Mystics' first loss in the third round of the ANZ Championship.

The Magic surged into the lead by aggressively smothering Mystics players early, which saw the ball regularly leave court on wayward tangents. Peta Scholz, Laura Langman and Frances Solia were frenetic electrons in the Magic midcourt nucleus. Even though the Magic outnumbered the Mystics in the penalty count 54-46, the defensive effort irked the home side enough to cough up the ball.

Magic coach Noeline Taurua is a tough taskmaster, rating her midcourt just 6 out of 10, but says initial pressure let them consolidate later.

"At times it still looks ugly, but we'll take that. Defensively the objective was to smother to create turnovers. We did that well by working hard on individuals so they really had to demonstrate their skills with the ball in hand."

Mystics captain Temepara George concedes they felt some heat, especially at the centre pass off: "I don't think we came out sleepy. They had just done their homework by watching our first two games and we were too slow to adapt. They were good at pressuring individuals and breaking our connections. For example, [former Australian representative] Peta Scholz was persistent, she never says die."

The Magic also created more space for Irene van Dyk in the shooting circle, allowing her to finish as the most accurate shooter (34 from 35 shots). The Mystics' inscrutable Cathrine Latu (31 from 36) kept pace until the fourth quarter, when she dropped just three shots from 10 attempts.

Taurua says they wanted van Dyk to avoid getting into a jumping contest with the Mystics' sometimes human torpedo Althea Byfield.

"Althea is so strong one-on-one in the air and Irene only really started to exert dominance in the second half. It helped that Jodi [Brown] was putting up plenty of shots too (21 from 26). She's a gem for us with her ability to settle things down."

"We cited the lack of feeding Irene as a problem to address from last week," says Brown. "I think it helped her deal with Althea, especially on the baseline. Last time I played with Irene she was the dominant shooter by far, but this time I exerted more dominance, which raised more questions for the opposition."

Creating a 6-1 lead just a few minutes into the match also rattled the Mystics' mental cage and dulled the incessant thud of the home fans' smurf-coloured thundersticks.

The Magic raced to a 14-9 first-quarter lead before extending it to 29-21 by halftime and building an insurance against the Mystics' third quarter resurgence when the score narrowed to 40-36.

"It was catch-up netball throughout," says George. "We threw the ball away and we forced the ball on our players."

Taurua expressed relief to be gifted such a generous lead.

"It enabled us to sustain our momentum because there were several surges in the final quarter when the Mystics brought it back to three goals, but we steeled ourselves against it.