Tactix enjoy home comforts
Drought breaks at last for team under mounting pressure
The Mainland Tactix will hope this is the result that kick-starts their season.
Widely touted as ANZ Premiership favourites in preseason, the Tactix finally earned their first win of 2021 with a heart-stopping 63-59 victory over the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in Christchurch yesterday.
After losing their opening three games, the Tactix were in desperation mode in their home opener in front of 3000 fans at Christchurch Arena.
Lose to the Magic and the Tactix would have been in trouble, needing to win the bulk of their remaining games to have any shot of making the top three finals.
Goal shoot Ellie Bird stepped up for the Tactix after an inconsistent first three games, landing 54 from 55 in a player of the match performance.
Bird was superb for the Tactix, showing what she is capable of when she keeps her composure and plays with confidence.
The Magic gave it everything and could have easily nabbed the win in a pulsating final quarter. Australian shooting legend Caitlin Bassett also delivered in the attack end after some sub-par play the last two weeks.
Bassett had arguably her strongest performances since joining the Magic, converting 45 from 48 – an effort that would have encouraged Australian coach Stacey Marinkovich.
It was a nail-biting second half with little separating the sides on the scoreboard in what proved one of the most entertaining games of the young season.
A 3-0 run from the Magic allowed them to push out to a four-goal cushion at 45-41 with four minutes left in the third quarter – their biggest lead of the game.
The Tactix counter-punched with a strong patch of play, scoring five unanswered goals to jump ahead 48-47 in the closing stages of the third quarter.
Midway through the last quarter, the Tactix seized the initiative with a critical 4-0 burst, which enabled them to build a 57-54 buffer with seven minutes left.
The Tactix had to overcome Te Paea Selby-Rickit leaving the court with cramp with six minutes to go as they clung to a slim lead.
Silver Fern Selby-Rickit started her first game of the season at goal attack after playing 45 minutes off the bench against the Mystics last Monday.
Selby-Rickit missed the opening two games with an ankle injury, which hindered the Tactix in their attacking end.
The Tactix couldn’t have asked for a better start, scoring the opening three goals of the game to gain some much-needed early confidence.
They took a 19-15 edge into the first quarter break, leading for the first time after the opening 15 minutes this season.
Both teams were flawless with their shooting in the first quarter.
Bird relished operating alongside Selby-Rickit, converting all 16 of her attempts in the first term, benefiting from sharp feeding from midcourters Erikana Pedersen and Kimiora Poi.
Bird’s dominant start forced the Magic to make an early change with former Tactix defender Temalisi Fakahokotau replaced at goal keep by Georgia Tong.
The Magic had four less attempts in the first quarter, but slotted all 15 with Bassett starting well, shooting 10 from 10.
Magic coach Amigene Metcalfe made another change to start the second quarter with impressive 18-year-old Khiarna Williams entering the game at goal attack for Chiara Semple.
In a see-saw contest, the Magic scored three in a row to begin the second quarter to hit the front for the first time.
It was enthralling netball with both teams making mini-runs and only a few goals separating the teams.
The Tactix scored three in a row to jump ahead 29-25, but couldn’t push ahead with the Magic replying with five consecutive goals.
At halftime, the sides were locked at 33-33 with Bird and Bassett both racking up the goals in the first half.
The second half was just as absorbing, but it was the Tactix who kept their nerve in a tense final quarter to earn a pivotal first win.
In yesterday’s early match, the Stars showed why they look every bit premiership title favourites.
The south Auckland side continued its excellent start to the season, overcoming the Southern Steel 59-45 to make it four wins from four.
This is easily the best start to a season for the Stars, who were formed in 2017 for the first year of the New Zealand premiership.
They are well on track to shatter their record for most wins in a season, winning six round games in 2019 when they progressed to the grand final, losing to the Pulse.
The 59 goals scored by the Stars was their most this season from four games.
One of the rare disappointing aspects was the accuracy of Silver Ferns goal shoot Maia Wilson. Wilson converted 33 goals but would have been frustrated with her accuracy, missing 10 attempts and shooting at just 77 per cent – well down on her normal percentage, usually in the 90s.