Colourplus Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic are the new leaders in the ANZ Championship after dealing Melbourne Vixens their first crushing blow of the season, 55-48, in Tauranga tonight. In what Magic’s outstanding defender Casey Williams dubbed “the biggest game of my life”, the home side out-shot and defensively out-shone the previously unbeaten Vixens to lead at every quarter.

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“That’s absolutely the cherry on the cake,” Magic co-captain Irene van Dyk said, in a week where she received an honour from the Queen for her services to the game. “We threw a few passes away in the first quarter, and I thought that would come back to bite us on the bum, but luckily we pulled through in the end.”  Van Dyk, who missed only one shot in her 36 attempts, put the victory down to Magic’s ability to score off their turnovers, where Vixens lost more ball in their attacking third.

Vixens co-captain Bianca Chatfield simply put it down to her side not being good enough on the night: “Not tough enough, not turning the ball over enough”, and not having enough options to curb Magic’s speed through court.  

It was the most keenly-anticipated game of the ANZ Championship so far, with so many appealing factors: the clash of the competition giants, and Vixen’s first game in New Zealand this season. It attracted the international coaches from both sides of the Tasman – Norma Plummer and Ruth Aitken – to the bleachers, and the QEYC stadium in Tauranga had been sold out for weeks.

Magic coach Noeline Taurua elected to play her star defender Williams at goal defence to try to quell Vixens’ explosive goal attack Sharelle McMahon – arguably pitting the world’s top two players against each other.

Van Dyk opened the scoring in a nervous start for the Magic, but Vixen’s secured the first turnover of the game to grab a three-goal advantage early on. For the first part of the spell, Vixens played their typical fast and low passing game through court with goal shoot Caitlin Thwaites gratefully accepting every bullet pass aimed at her.

Magic on the other hand found it more difficult penetrating the midcourt, but goal attack Maria Tutaia played her part outside the circle working with wing attack Frances Solia to get the ball over Vixens’ defenders Julie Corletto and Chatfield into the hands of van Dyk.

Rallied by centre Laura Langman, Magic began to put full-court defensive pressure on Vixens halfway through the quarter, forcing the Melbourne side into making errors and drawing equal 7-7. Some aerial acrobatics by Williams and a last-minute intercept by goal keep Leana de Bruin, pregnant with her first child, gave Magic a 12-11 edge at quarter time.

Both side’s key shooters, Thwaites and van Dyk, finished the first quarter with perfect accuracy; McMahon was uncharacteristically quiet adding only one goal to Vixen’s tally.

Vixens coach Julie Hoornweg rang the changes in the second quarter, moving the versatile Renae Hallinan from wing defence to wing attack, and bringing Brooke Thompson into the game at wing defence.

De Bruin’s tips and Williams’ classic intercepts on the hunt effectively cut off ball to Thwaites, and as a result, Magic raced ahead by three. At the other end, Corletto used her impressive speed to interrupt Magic’s flow, but still the Waikato Bay of Plenty side led 25-22 at halftime.

In a bid to get more drive through court, Hoornweg reshuffled her midcourt yet again for the third quarter, pushing Natasha Chokjlat back to wing defence to close down spaces, and pairing up Chelsey Nash and Hallinan at wing attack and centre to boost their height in the middle.   Taurua stuck with her starting seven, happy with some “beautiful phases”, but asking them to better absorb the Vixens’ pressure and make passes at the attacking end more precise.

Hallinan made herself more room to move at centre and combined well with McMahon, helping to close the gap to one goal seven minutes into the half.

But the tide then turned markedly in Magic’s favour. In the most effective combination of the game, Williams and de Bruin worked without rest to block off McMahon and Thwaites from their frustrated feeders. Yet McMahon – the Houdini of netball – still found ways to escape their cloying attention.

With intense stress poured on by Magic’s defence and with Langman pouncing like a coiled spring, Magic went into the final quarter with a six-goal lead, but they knew better than to feel absolutely confident against the powerful Vixens unit. Hoorneg encouraged her troops at the break: “We can win this guys….string some good play together… lift to the next level.”

But in fact it was confidence that fueled the Magic machine, and within minutes, Magic had opened the chasm to 10. Williams was ferocious on the rebound and intercept, and at the other end, Tutaia gave one of her best peformances to shoot 91 percent with 35 from 36.

Thwaites to continued to shoot strongly (ending with 32 from 36) and Corletto’s keen eye and impressive leap stirred a minor Vixen comeback, narrowing the margin to six. But with a minute left on the clock, the 2500-strong crowd could smell victory for their home side and erupted into cowbell rings and a wall of applause.

Pictured: The Vixens`  great goal attackSharelle McMahon takes aim against against Magic`s mighty defender Casey Williams in tonight`s match. (PHOTO: Michael Bradley)