Magic sweep aside Tactix - Round 1 ANZC 13

[Photo courtsey of Phillip Rolio – Flickr]

The Magic have gone one better than last season, winning their opening game against the Tactix in Nelson in front of a sell out crowd, taking out the game 69-46.

Last seasons defending champions started of their 2013 campaign on a better note that last year, however against the seasonal wooden spooners, not a lot was probably going to be grasped as to how the Magic are shaping for the title defense.

The opening quarter saw a shaky start by the home team, with captain Anna Thompson only putting up 2 shots and being unsuccessful on both occasions and a couple of silly turnovers not helping the scoreline. The constant problem of the Tactix only having one dominant shooter seems like it may continue until the return from injury of Juliana Nauopu who will bring some stability to the role.

Jo Harten looks to have continued her form from the series victory against Australia for England over the summer with strong movement and some great long bombs slotting through the hoop. The combination of Harten and Clarke was evident and will hopefully continue to grown for the Tactix this season.

Clarke played a great game in midcourt against Laura Langman, but needed some extra defensive pressure to stem the flow of the Magic on attack and give her young circle defenders a chance to grasp a turnover.

A continuous learning experience for the young circle defenders against the worlds best GS, with Zoe Walker going out hunting and leaving Irene exposed at the post o a couple of occasions. The huge task of marking one of the games greats hardly deterred the youngster as she picked up 2 intercepts and 3 deflections. One thing to work on in the future is to lower her penalties with 19 she was the highest on court.

Irene van Dyk, 41 still continued her sublime form as always and finished the match on 45/48 and was ably assisted by her 2 GA throughout the match.

Jess Waitapu kept ex Tactix player Ellen Halpenny on the bench for the first half and was impressive in her court movement. The goal circle movement with Van Dyk was certainly well beyond her ANZ Championship experience would suggest and finished the game with 11/15.

The change at halftime of Halpenny did little to disrupt the Magic momentum and the lead stretched to 20 goals by 3/4 time and was never relinquished for the rest of the match. 

Next up the Magic take on the Swifts at home on Sunday evening, while the Tactix face the Steel next Monday night. 

Game stats

Shooting - Tactix

J. HARTEN - 35/43 - 81%

S. FENWICK - 8/15 - 53%

A. THOMPSON - 3/7 - 42%

Shooting - Magic

I .VAN DYK - 45/48 93%

E. HALPENNY - 13/17 - 80%

J. WAITAPU - 11/15 - 73%