Firebirds 55
Magic 54
A disastrous start last night cost the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic their match against the Queensland Firebirds, and potentially a second New Zealand berth in the transtasman league play-offs.
The heart-stopping one-goal win has reignited the Firebirds' finals hopes, boosting them to fifth. And with their remaining three games against the bottom three placed teams, and a healthy goal percentage, the Queensland side now have a strong chance of scraping in to the top four for the first time.
It means the fourth-placed Southern Steel probably need to win their remaining three games to keep the Firebirds at bay.
But the Magic won't be concerned with the fate of their Kiwi rivals. They are in a precarious position themselves after back-to-back losses has seen them slip to third.
Magic coach Noeline Taurua acknowledged the loss puts her side under pressure heading in to a difficult away match against the NSW Swifts in Sydney next week.
Taurua opted to start with another curious defensive line-up. Star defender Casey Williams was mercifully returned to her more favoured position of goal-keep, matching up on 1.96m Jamaican import Romelda Aiken. But partnering Williams in the defensive circle was regular shooter Jess Tuki, who the Magic have been trying to convert in to a defender since the loss of Peta Scholz.
Tuki might do a serviceable job there in training, but against Aiken and experienced Australian international Natalie Medhurst, she looked out of her depth.
Trailing by eight early in the second quarter, it was clear the Magic could no longer afford to persevere with the combination, and an injury time-out was called.
Jodi Tod was moved from the wing to goal defence, with 19-year-old rookie Elias Shadrock coming off the bench at wing defence. The Magic moved Jodi Brown back to goal shoot, swapping bibs with Irene van Dyk. Brown appeared to be struggling with the pace of the game, making three costly turnovers, which effectively gave the Firebirds their five-goal lead at quarter-time.
Mid-way through the quarter the Magic had worked their way back in to the match, levelling the score at 24-all, leaving most wondering why this option hasn't been used over the past couple of weeks.
Taurua refused to blame the muddled start in defence for the loss though, instead pointing the finger at her side's poor execution on attack.
"I think with the body contact that was on, and with their long reach it took us a while to adjust to that," she said.
"The final execution and delivery of the ball wasn't good enough, it put us under pressure."
Initially the change to the attack end also rattled the Firebirds defence as van Dyk consistently outwitted youngster Amy Steel. But once the visitors adjusted to managing the tall body of van Dyk in the midcourt they began to pull away again late in the quarter to take a narrow 30-27 lead at halftime.
By the end of the third quarter the Magic trailed 43-37 and had a lot of ground to make up.
A strong start to the final period gave them a fighting chance, but the nuggety Firebirds held on.
