16 Apr 2017

Mystics enjoy rare win over Magic

4:44 pm on 16 April 2017

A horror second quarter proved costly for the Waikato Bay of Plenty as they were beaten 67-62 by the Northern Mystics in their ANZ premiership netball match in Auckland this afternoon.

The scores were locked at 15-all at the end of the first quarter but the Northern Mystics overwhelmed the Magic in the second quarter outscoring the visitors 21-12 to give the home side a 36-27 halftime lead.

The Magic rallied to win the next two quarters but the damage had been done and they were unable to overcome the nine goal deficit eventually losing by five.

Shooter Bailey Mes was on song for the Mystics shooting 30 from 33 goals successfully, while goal attack Maria Tutaia shot 37 from 44.

Anna Harrison and Monica Falkner battle for the ball during the Mystics win.

Anna Harrison and Monica Falkner battle for the ball during the Mystics win. Photo: Photosport

The Magic's South African international goal shoot Lenize Potgieter enjoyed a 92 percent success rate with 46 from 50 but her attacking partner Monica Falkner had a disappointing day shooting only 72 percent with 16 out of 23 successful attempts.

It was a rare win for the Mystics with the two sides having met 22 times in the former trans-Tasman netball competition with the Magic having won 17 of those encounters compared to the Mystics four.

While pleased with the win Mystics captain Anna Harrison was keen to look back over final quarter.

"We didn't get enough ball especially in the last quarter which was pretty slow, so we need to go back and see why it was a slow start, what we were doing and what they were getting away with," said Harrison.

Magic captain Casey Kopua said her side simply played into the Mystics hands.

"We passing passes we wouldn't usually give and they were doing a great job by making it look open. Our error (too) it's quite hard to catch up against the team like the Mystics," she said.