Magic fighting from behind for final victory

BEN CURRAN/Waikato Times

ON THE UP: Magic captain Casey Williams looks to move the ball upcourt after pulling in an intercept.

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The Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic will again be made to fight from behind to earn victory.

In the ANZ Championship grand final against the Melbourne Vixens in front of a loud, sell-out crowd of 9,400 at Hisense Arena in Melbourne, the visitors are down 31-28 at three-quarter time.

Building on an 8-7 quarter time advantage, the hosts extended their lead to 22-18 at halftime.

In the third quarter an early two goals got them ahead by six, then at 27-22 the Magic called a timeout to look to regain some poise.

Magic defenders Casey Williams and Leana de Bruin kept picking up rebounds but the visitors’ struggled with their execution downcourt, with the Vixens continually able to put up more shots.

At 29-23 the match looked to be slipping away from the Magic, but they closed to 29-25 then Vixens wing attack Madison Browne threw a bad pass and allowed the visitors another goal, before the hosts called a timeout with two and a half minutes remaining in the quarter.

Magic wing attack Khao Watts stepped up a gear in the third quarter, feeding well, and the Magic closed to within two, before the Vixens scored again and Laura Langman was called for held ball with 10 seconds remaining in the period.

- © Fairfax NZ News