Netball: NZ teams miss out on final again

Grace Rasmussen looks to pass under pressure from Abbey McCulloch. Photo / David Kerr

New Zealand sides will not feature in the transtasman league grand final for the third straight year after both the Mystics and Magic's play-offs run came to an end in today's semifinals.

The Mystics copped a 16-goal battering at the hands of the Firebirds in Brisbane, before the Waikato-Bay of Plenty side fell to a 60-52 loss to the Swifts in a see-sawing match in Hamilton.

The Firebirds will now host the Swifts in next week's title clash in Brisbane - the fifth straight week the NSW side have been on the road.

After the dominance of the Australian teams this season the results were not surprising. It was only through the new finals format introduced this year that helped the Mystics and Magic advance through to the second week of play-offs, with the top two teams from the New Zealand and Australian conferences contesting the semifinals.

The Magic, with the exception of a disastrous second quarter, in which they were outscored by the Swifts 17-6, were at least more competitive in their hit-out. They gave visiting coach Rob Wright some cause for anxiety as he watched on as the Magic clawed their way back from a 31-21 deficit at halftime, to trail 42-40 heading into the final spell.

But the Swifts surged ahead in the final quarter as the change of ends brought the shooters back under the rule of New Zealand umpire Jono Bredin, which proved to be the scoring end. The difference in umpiring interpretations between Bredin and Australian umpire Rachael Ayre was stark, leading to a massive swing in scoring, with 69 goals scored down the Kiwi official's end, compared to 43 at the Australian end.

While disappointed her side's season had come to an end, Magic captain Leana de Bruin said she was pleased her side once again showed the fighting qualities they have become known for this season.

"It's been a long season, there's been a lot of up and downs, but we showed we could keep up with them, it was just that last quarter and the second quarter that let us down," said de Bruin.

The Magic have shown resilience in spades this season, fighting their way into the finals for the eighth straight year despite being forced to field a very young and inexperienced side after being hit with a series of injury setbacks.

Two gutsy wins over the Steel (71-69) and the Mystics (57-54) in the New Zealand conference finals further galvanised the Magic, giving them strong confidence heading into last night's semifinal clash.

They had every reason to remain confident after a tight opening spell, with the Magic held a narrow 15-14 lead at the first break courtesy of a long-range penalty shot from Jo Harten with time up on the clock.

But that lead was shortlived, with a disastrous second quarter leaving the homeside trailing by 10-goals heading into the second half. The Magic managed just six goals in the second quarter as young shooter Malia Paseka was completely shut down by star defender Julie Corletto, playing in her 100th ANZ Championship match.

With Paseka struggling to get free, import shooter Jo Harten was forced out of the circle and away from the under the net, where she is most dangerous.

From that position it would have been easy for the scoreline to blow out for the Magic - as was the case in the Mystics earlier clash - but the homeside produced a stirring comeback in the third spell, closing to within one goal as three quarter time approached.

They continued to push the Swifts hard through the early stages of the fourth quarter, but with the defensive end reined in by the whistle of Bredin in the final spell, the visitors were able to pull ahead in the latter stages of the quarter.