IT was heartbreak for Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic as they fell agonisingly short to the Southern Steel in Round 8 of the ANZ Premiership by one goal, 59-58. The Steel were off to the races in the opening half before the Magic pegged their way back into the contest in what was a thrilling encounter decided in the final seconds by a George Fisher goal.

The Magic got off to a blistering start piling on the first three goals of the game with Caitlin Bassett and Chiara Semple getting the nod in at goal shooter and goal attack respectively with Grace Kara relegated to her more typical position of wing attack. Temalisi Fakahokotau made her presence felt nice and early with a clever deflection and pickup as the Magic kept the Steel goalless for the first three minutes of the match. It was loud out on court with both sides making their voices well and truly heard to put doubt in the feeders’ minds. The combination between Semple and Bassett was causing all sorts of trouble with Taneisha Fifita and Te Huinga Selby-Rickit unable to stop their quick ball movement. The Magic maintained a handy five-goal buffer with the team humming along nicely in all thirds of the court.

All of a sudden the screws started to tighten as Steel won ball back through the midcourt and the home side hit the lead. The Steel scored five goals in a row with Tiana Metuarau and Fisher upping the ante in the goal circle to weave their magic. But Fakahokotau and Erena Mikaere were up to the task as the duo double-teamed Fisher on the shot to reject the attempt and send the Magic streaming back down the court. The Steel hit the front with three minutes left to play in the term as silly errors cost the Magic an opportunity to capitalise. It was textbook play for the Steel in attack with Shannon Saunders leading the troops as they completely flipped the script to take a five-goal lead into the break.

Fakahokotau got the term off to a good start with an early intercept but the Steel continued about their business. The Magic defence were flying at just about everything with Holly Fowler providing great coverage out the front in wing defence to slow down Saunders. High looping passes into the attacking third gifted Fifita with a wealth of time to snatch the ball out of mid-air and propel it back down the court as the Steel continued to mount scoreboard pressure. The two centres in Kate Heffernan and Sam Winders cancelled each other out with the two doing a mountain load of work both off the ball to keep each other occupied and also in transition to feed the ball into the circle.

The timing was a fraction out for the Magic defenders as Fisher and Metuarau toyed with them credit to their impressive shooter to shooter combination. The Steel maintained their six-goal lead but with the whistle getting a bit out of hand the umpires pulled both captains in Winders and Saunders to the side to address their troops and clean up the action out on court. With that in mind both sides got off the body and instead played more free flowing zone style netball. The lead ballooned out to seven goals with Metuarau controlling proceedings in attack both on her second phase play and accuracy to post nailing three goals straight for the Steel.

Semple used her quick footwork and silky hands to open the Magic’s account nailing her tenth goal of the game and maintaining her 100 per cent accuracy. Kara started to work her way into the game with her class coming to the fore against Heffernan who switched into wing defence as Renee Savai’inaea switched into centre. The Magic managed the first five goals of the term to get back within three goals as the ball started to fall the way of the visitors. The Magic were playing with a renewed sense of confidence and intent especially in attack with Winders and Kara using their cuts and drives to slice through the Steel’s defence.

With Bassett receiving a wealth of attention from Selby-Rickit and Fifita, Semple carried the load with the goal attack sinking them from long range and doing so with accuracy. Georgia Tong made her way out onto court in goal keeper to replace Fakahokotau who was receiving some attention from the umpires while Sarahpheinna Woulf came on for Selby-Rickit for the Steel. A nasty head knock to Tong saw her come from the court as the Magic rung in the changes with Mikaere swinging back to goal keeper, Fowler into goal defence and Georgie Edgecombe into wing defence with it taking a minute or two for the side to settle.

The Magic made a couple more changes with Kara swinging into goal attack and Tori Kolose on in wing attack. The Steel got a real run on early in the quarter pushing out to a six goal lead before some vintage play from Fowler brought the Magic to life. Waikato Bay of Plenty continued to plug away at the margin with Kara proving to be a real playmaker inside the circle and allowing Bassett to dominate. Steel scored three straight goals with a tick over three minutes left on the clock but the Magic refused to give up. Sophie Erwood came on to replace Heffernan who was skating on thin ice after receiving a caution but that did not seem to faze the Magic who were on a roll. But it all came down to the final 10 seconds as Metuarau unleashed a pinpoint pass into Fisher who despite missing the first attempt, nailed the second to secure the win.

Fisher finished with 50 goals from 54 attempts at 93 per cent and while Metuarau only managed nine goals her workload out the front was telling registering 23 goal assists. Fifita was strong in defence with her four gains and three intercepts as Fowler was key for the Magic down back with her two intercepts. Bassett was accurate under the post with 39 goals to her name while Semple only missed the one goal sitting at 19 from 20. Although Kara did not put up a shot in the final term her hot hand on the feed kept the Magic alive finishing with 26 goal assists.