Swifts thrash Magic
The trans-Tasman netball league final will be an allAustralian affair for the fourth season in a row.
The Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic had been the last New Zealand team standing, but lost 45-64 to the New South Wales Swifts on Monday night in Hamilton.
They never really came close to earning themselves a chance at a second title, as the Swifts ground their dreams into dust, slowly at first, then emphatically as the game wore on.
The result means they will still go down in history as the only New Zealand team to have won the league, having beat the Melbourne Vixens in the 2012 decider.
The Magic’s loss was the first time this season they had been beaten when able to field a firstchoice starting seven, indicative of the gap between Australian teams and New Zealand teams that has persisted throughout the league’s nine-year existence.
Returning to her home town, it was Swifts centre - and former Magic player - Laura Langman who got things under way, ushering in a first quarter that was a real slugfest, with neither team giving an inch on defence, nor allowing their opponents an inch of space.
A couple of Magic errors allowed the visitors to open up a slender three-goal lead with five minutes to go in the first spell, and it remained two as the first buzzer sounded, Caitlin Thwaites sinking a rushed shot as the clock ran down.
Sam Sinclair came in at centre for Courtney Tairi for the Magic to begin the second quarter, but that didn’t change things much.
Both sides’ shooting slipped, but it was the Magic’s that slipped further.
The Swifts just seemed slightly better at playing quick combinations than their hosts, allowing them to capitalise when rare turnovers were won.
The margin was 18 at the end of the third quarter, then 19 as the final whistle blew, the only consolation for the Magic being that it didn’t exceed 28, and so this wasn’t their worst loss ever.
They fought hard to the final whistle - losing the final quarter by just one.
And so somewhat fittingly for a league which Australian teams have always dominated, the last grand final will be contested by two of them.
A rematch of last season’s - which the Queensland Firebirds won by one - it will take place next Sunday afternoon in Brisbane.