Magic play twice
Paper Plus’ Murray Green takes the lead this week after playing his single use joker which takes him to 86.7 per cent.
McDonald’s pickster Bernie Marshall is in a close second place while Stewart & Cavalier’s Debbie Pitcon is in third.
NZME’s Tania King, LJ Hooker’s Rhonda McGuire and Harcourts’ Melanie Barker sit in fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively.
The Splice Construction Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic played two games in round four of ANZ Premiership netball.
Their first game was against the Pulse on Sunday, a top-of-the-table versus bottom-of-the-table clash, Pulse ensured they have now kept a clean sheet against all teams in the ANZ Premiership.
The Pulse overcame a slow start before finding their feet to run away with the match in a powerful display.
It marked the first time Magic wing attack Whitney Souness had come up against her old teammates.
Showing no signs of any weariness from their match the day before, the Pulse exploded into life on the resumption.
In-circle defenders Katrina Rore and Kelly Jury put the squeeze on the Magic shooters.
Souness fired some quality passes into her shooters but a swarming Pulse defence restricted them to just five shots as they skipped into halftime with a 29-16 lead.
The Pulse continued to hold sway during the third quarter.
For Magic, young shooter Khiarna Williams got her chance at goal attack and Jenna O’Sullivan slotted into wing defence but the Pulse remained well in charge when leading 41-23 at the last turn. The final score was 51-30. In their Monday match, the Magic faced the Robinhood Northern Stars and drew 46-46, the first draw in ANZ Premiership history.
While the Magic took early control, the Stars rallied to the point where their lead at three-quarter time looked almost comfortable.
MVP, Magic wing attack Souness set the tone by playing some soaring balls into McPhee on the baseline.
The Stars were seven goals down before they began to chip away at the deficit, trailing 13-8 at the first break.
The third quarter belonged to the Northerners.
Centre Mila Reuelu-Buchanan, engaged in a 48-minute battle of wills with Magic centre Ariana Cable-Dixon.
Down 38-31 at threequarter time and told by coach Amigene Metcalfe to hunt for more ball, the Magic quickly closed to within four in the final spell.
But then the Waikato BOP team renewed their intensity and scored six in a row aided by two crucial intercepts by Erena Mikaere and Captain Sam Winders for a great end to a see-sawing game.
Next Sunday the Splice Construction Magic take on the Northern Stars again. Game starts at 5pm.
The day after they will take on the Tactix at 7pm.
Both games are at the Auckland Netball Centre.