Fever Tamed by Clinical Magic

Published On: 2 July 2009

Caitlin Bassett

The West Coast Fever was unable to create an upset at Challenge Stadium last week after suffering a 49-38 defeat at the hands of league leaders the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.

The Magic set up their eighth straight ANZ Championship victory with a strong first quarter, led by the imperial form of legendary goal shooter Irene van Dyk – who shot at 94 percent for the match – helping the visitors to a 14-9 first break lead.

The Fever produced an increased tempo in the second term and reduced the New Zealand sides’ advantage, but a well planned stoppage by the Magic, regained the momentum, as the league leaders drew out to a seven goal margin at half time.

The second half failed to spark one of the Fever’s memorable comebacks but the crowd were still kept entertained by a high quality contest.

WAIS scholarship holders Susan Fuhrmann, Andrea Gilmore, Madison Browne and Shae Bolton all produced impressive displays against a team, tipped by many pundits to feature in the 2009 grand final.

Fever coach Jane Searle was left to rue missed opportunities in the forward half, after the defence and midcourt had carved out two further goal scoring opportunities than the magic, after the match finished 49-38 to the Waikato based club.

“We played well and had two more shooting attempts than the Magic. Our accuracy wasn’t there, we came off 94 percent accuracy last week from Caitlin (WAIS athlete Caitlin Bassett) but it was not matched this week,” Searle said.