Thunderbirds fly past Waikato-BOP Magic

Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic hopes of a trans-Tasman netball league home semifinal were comprehensively destroyed when they collapsed to a humiliating 35-54 loss to a fired-up Adelaide Thunderbirds in Adelaide today.

It was only the second loss of the season for the star-studded Magic line-up, and came at a time when they desperately needed a strong win to secure the home advantage as the ANZ Championship moves into play-off mode.

Instead they were totally outplayed by the third-placed Thunderbirds, who bounced back in style from last week's shock 49-58 loss to the Southern Steel.

The result means the Magic finish second on the ladder, and will face competition leaders the Melbourne Vixens at home next week.

A win there will see them straight through to the grand final at the end of the month, a loss means they'll have to beat the winner of the third and fourth play-off to go through.

Ahead 12-10 at the end of the first quarter, the Thunderbirds played some sublime netball in the second spell to outscore the Magic 18-7 and lead 30-17 at halftime.

An outstanding full-court defensive effort laid the groundwork for the Thunderbirds win, with the Magic struggling to move the ball with any pace or precision to their usually consistent shooters.

That hesitancy was mirrored in Silver Fern shooters Irene van Dyk and Maria Tutaia's accuracy. Van Dyk had her worst game of the league – shooting at 93 per cent over the last 13 weeks of the league, she managed a paltry 76 per cent today.

Tutaia was also well below her best, moving tentatively and sinking 16 from 23 attempts for just 70 per cent. The Magic lost far too much possession as the Thunderbirds circle defenders Geva Mentor and Mo'onia Gerrard forced numerous turnovers, but the real damage was done further up the court.

The Thunderbirds midcourt piled the pressure on as the Magic tried to work the ball down court, looking increasingly disjointed and bereft of ideas as the game progressed.

The combination between Thunderbirds centre Natalie von Bertouch and wing attack Emily Beaton strengthened with every quarter, and the ball to shooters Kate Beveridge and Natalie Medhurst was slick and assured.

In contrast, Magic wing attack Frances Solia battled to find any sort of fluency, and her combination with centre Laura Langman looked forced as the pair struggled to find a path into their circle.

Thunderbirds wing defence Jo Sutton kept Solia well under wraps, forcing Magic coach Noeline Taurua to bring on the rangy Jess Tuki after the halftime break.

Goal keep Leana de Bruin was benched, Jodi Tod came on at goal defence and the usually destructive Casey Williams moved back to goal keep.

It made little difference, although the Magic did hold the Thunderbirds to a 13-10 quarter to trail 27-43 with 15 minutes to go.

But with Beveridge shooting at 81 per cent, and Medhurst 86 per cent, the Thunderbirds never looked remotely like relinquishing their choke hold on the game. In total, they sunk 54 of 65 shots for the game and restricted the Magic to just 35 from 48.

A resigned van Dyk said afterwards that the Magic had started slowly, and never seemed to gain momentum.

"We took a massive dive in the second quarter and we just couldn't pick ourselves up from that," she told SkySport afterwards.

"They were the better team on the day, and they kicked our butts."

-NZPA