Magic beat Steel in empty arena
The Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic beat the Southern Steel 54-48 in an ANZ Premiership match played in front of empty stands.
Netball New Zealand made the decision to shut the public out of last night’s fixture at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin at late notice, as part of the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The government announced late yesterday afternoon that it would be advising that gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled, just hours before the start of the last match of the ANZ Premiership’s opening round.
It remains to be seen whether Netball NZ will move forward looking to play behind closed
At a glance
ANZ Premiership, round one Waikato-BOP Magic 54
(Kelsey McPhee 35/43, Abigail LatuMeafou 19/27) Southern Steel 48 (Jennifer O’Connell 35/50, Kalifa McCollin 9/12, Georgia Heffernan
4/6).
14-10;
Q1: HT: Q3: Points (games played):
39-37. Pulse 2
(1), Magic 2 (1), Mystics 2 (1), Stars 1
(1), Steel 0 (1), Pulse 0 (1).
27-24;
doors for as long as possible, or if it will bring the competition to a halt.
Across the Tasman, where the prevalence of Covid-19 is far greater, AFL, football, and rugby league have all signalled their intention to do so, knowing it will only take one positive test at a club for those plans to fall apart, as happened with the NBA in the United States.
The Magic had to hold tough to grind out a win on the road yesterday, holding off a second-half fightback from Steel.
The visitors opened up a lead in the first quarter, with their new defensive combination of Erena Mikaere and Holly Fowler making a strong start.
Their lead grew to seven goals at its highest point, with two minutes to play in the opening quarter, but by halftime, the Steel had cut the margin to three.
Four minutes into the third quarter, the hosts had taken the lead, going on a five-goal run, but the Magic responded to take a two-goal buffer into the final period.
Early in the fourth quarter, they pushed the margin back out to five goals, and from there they were largely untroubled.
Kelsey McPhee made 35 of her
43 attempts for the Magic, while Jennifer O’Connell was less efficient for the Steel, also scoring
35 goals, but from 50 attempts.