Tactix 49
The Magic survived another scare against the Canterbury Tactix in Rotorua last night, but their disjointed performance has raised questions as to how much longer their transtasman league play-off hopes will be alive.
A seven-goal pasting at the hands of the NSW Swifts on Monday night saw the Waikato/Bay of Plenty side dip out of the top four for the first time this season, dropping from second to fifth in the space of one round.
With the battle for semifinal spots so tightly poised, the Magic were chasing a big win last night to boost their goal percentage, which will likely determine the order of the top four.
Despite some strong surges, the Magic couldn't break free of the battling Tactix, who took the Waikato side to extra time on the same court six weeks ago.
After trailing 15-11 at the first break, the Tactix stormed back to level the game at 25-all at halftime and keep the pressure on in the third quarter to ensure the scores remained locked heading in to the final turn.
But, in what proved to be the decisive period, the Magic opened the final spell with a 7-2 run and dictated the tempo in the dying minutes to grind out an unconvincing win.
With another tough game against the Southern Steel in Invercargill on Sunday, the Magic have little time to address the concerns in their attacking play that have emerged over the past couple of weeks following consecutive losses to the Firebirds and Swifts.
The Magic committed 20 turnovers last night - some were the result of some gutsy work on defence by the Tactix, others were a result of miscommunication on attack, but a lot of them were just plain soft.
The biggest culprits appeared to be the inexperienced attacking pairing of Julianna Naoupu and Jess Tuki, who between them turned the ball over nine times. Silver Ferns stars Laura Langman and Irene van Dyk had to work overtime to hold the attack together, with van Dyk coming out of the circle to do a lot of work.
Despite leading 15-11 at the first break, Magic coach Noeline Taurua opted to make changes to her attack end, introducing Frances Solia and Jamilah Gupwell for Tuki and Naoupu.
Solia and Gupwell were both brought on at halftime in Monday night's loss to the Swifts and made a strong impact.
But the pair struggled to settle last night, making soft turnovers early to allow the Tactix back in to the match by halftime.
After a disjointed attacking effort in the second quarter, Taurua was forced to revert back to Tuki and Naoupu, and Jodi Tod was also introduced in the defence end with Casey Williams moving back to goal keep.
But the new changes could not break the stalemate, with the scores remaining locked at 38-all heading in to the final spell.
