Thunderbirds 54
Magic 35
The Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic's bid for a top-of-the-table finish came crashing down spectacularly yesterday, taking with it their confidence heading into the ANZ Championship finals.
The star-studded Magic line-up suffered a 19-goal thumping at the hands of the third-placed Thunderbirds in Adelaide after a ruthless display from the home side. The Magic were simply out-muscled and out-performed in every department, or as Magic co-captain Irene van Dyk put it: "They kicked our butts".
The loss allowed the Melbourne Vixens to clinch the minor premiership and with it, home advantage for next week's semifinal. After 10 days on the road, the Magic return home tomorrow with little time to regroup before heading back across the Tasman to take on the Vixens for a place in the grand final.
While the Magic will have an extra life in the play-offs should they lose next week, they still have a difficult path ahead of them to make the ANZ Championship final.
Magic coach Noeline Taurua admits her side's bid for the transtasman title has become all the more tougher after yesterday's confidence-sapping loss.
"Obviously we're hurting right now, but we just have to pick ourselves up and get on with it," she said.
"We were exposed in a lot of areas today and we have to make sure we don't come out and play like that again."
The Vixens laid down a stern challenge to the Magic heading into yesterday's match against the Thunderbirds. The Melbourne side's 41-goal demolition of the Central Pulse meant the Magic needed to beat the Thunderbirds by upwards of eight goals to secure top place on the ladder.
But it was always going to be an extremely tough ask against the Thunderbirds, who, with the exception of last week's loss to the Southern Steel, have been in impressive form over the back end of the season.
The match was effectively over by halftime with the Thunderbirds holding a commanding 30-17 lead. But the home side refused to take their foot off the accelerator, extending their lead at every break.
The Thunderbirds back three combination of Geva Mentor, Mo'onia Gerrard and Jo Sutton did an impressive job of unsettling the Magic attack, with the visitors wilting under the enormous pressure applied.
The Adelaide side ensured there was no easy path into the Magic goal circle, contesting every ball and hassling the visitors in to making basic errors.
The tenacious defence of Mentor and Gerrard was also responsible for the Magic's poor accuracy, with van Dyk and Maria Tutaia collectively shooting at just 72 per cent - almost unheard of for the Silver Ferns pairing.
With the Thunderbirds transition from defence to attack superb, the Magic were seemingly powerless to slow their opposition through the court.
On the basis of their performance last night it is hard to mount a case for the Magic being able to beat the red-hot Vixens next weekend. But Taurua was not willing to concede.
"We're still going to Melbourne chasing that grand final spot," she said.
The Thunderbirds await the result of tonight's match between the West Coast Fever and Queensland Firebirds in Perth to find out who they will face in the second semifinal.
