Netball: Waikato weave southern magic

Southern Sting goal shoot Tania Dalton (left) and Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic goal defence Joline Henry battle for the ball. Picture / Fotopress

MAGIC 65 STING 39

Inspired again by the magical Irene van Dyk and with incredible support from her rampant team-mates, the Magic swamped and silenced the Sting in the most one-sided final in National Bank Cup history tonight.

The loss marked the end of a great New Zealand sporting dynasty as the Magic took the trophy to the North Island for the first time in its eight years.

The winning margin was the greatest in those eight finals. It was only the second time the Robyn Broughton-coached side had not scored 40 goals in any cup match.

The loss stunned the Stadium Southland faithful but sparked scenes of unbridled joy for Magic coach Noeline Taurua and her players.

Early it was a game of pressure at both ends of the court.

Not for long. The Magic soon took command in midcourt and fed a constant stream of ball to van Dyk and her more than able lieutenant goal attack Anna Senio.

Capitalising on that wealth of early ball - often from turnovers - the visitors raced to a barely believable 8-2 lead.

The Sting rallied briefly to close to 9-6 but, stung by that little surge, the Magic, led by the sharp-shooting van Dyk quickly raced to 14-6 and cruised to 17-9 at quarter time with a 100 per cent shooting effort from the northerners.

While the shooters played their part to perfection, much of their work followed solid defensive play from Joline Henry and Casey Williams.

Their often easily claimed ball was quickly released to midcourters Laura Langman and Amigene Metcalfe who in turn found van Dyk and Senio who turned that wealth of possession into goals.

And when ball was spilled, it was the Magic players who reacted more quickly to take advantage of turnover ball by sending it deep - often with looping passes - to van Dyk.

The Sting struggled to live with the visitors.

When they sensed they had a chance to get back and put some pressure on the Magic defence, Williams came up with a crucial intercept - she had claimed a mercurial nine before three-quarter time - and the Magic cashed in.

Ahead 33-16 at halftime it was gone for the defending champions. Their six-year unbeaten home record in tatters.

They rallied briefly in the third quarter to at times match the magical Magic but even five successful shots from consecutive attempts to close to 26-42 was but a temporary aberration.

With Senio shooting at 100 per cent and van Dyk not far behind, the Waikato-Bay of Plenty side returned to business as usual to end the quarter ahead 46-28 and a 13-12 advantage for the 15-minute quarter.

It was more of the same as the Magic closed it out with another clinical display in the last quarter.

Broughton made changes but to no avail. The Magic simply held the home side at arms length in the last 15 minutes as they cruised home.

Ahead in every quarter it was never in doubt and signalled what might quickly become a changing of the guard in New Zealand netball.

While the shooters obviously took most of the kudos, this was a team effort and one which was duly rewarded with after a season-long effort which had them as the top qualifier.

- NZ Herald