LG Mystics Finish With A Loss

Tuesday, 7 July 2009

The LG Northern Mystics helped send retiring netball legend Julie Seymour out of netball with a smile on her face last night in their final match of the 2009 ANZ Championship season.

Played in front of a good crowd in Christchurch the Mystics were beaten 56-63 by the Canterbury Tactix and can now look forward to some time off before working on the next sasons.

There was little but pride riding on the match, but both teams produced a free-flowing contest. A clean and relatively penalty-free attitude from each side created a high-scoring start as the teams level-pegged up to the first break.

Temepara George and Tactix wing attack Maree Bowden provided good service to their respective shooting circles with the home team gaining  narrow edge to lead the opening spoils 17-15.

Teamwork between Seymour and Bowden through the Tactix midcourt was accurate and disruptive in defence helping the home side to a 10-goal advantage.

George sparked a mini revival for the Mystics who fought their way back to draw within four before the Tactix re-asserted their dominance.

Starved of ball, shooter Cathrine Latu shot most that came her way with just one missed shot during the first half. At the other end, the Tactix wasted many opportunities with some passing lapses and a lack of accuracy under the hoop.

On the back of their 44 attempts at goal during this half compared to the Mystics only 29 in comparison, the Tactix held a 34-27 advantage at the halftime break.

The third quarter produced a mixed bag as momentum continued to shift between the teams. Cookey became more involved with some creative touches as the Mystics threatened with some forceful play.

However, as has been the story of their season, they were unable to sustain the consistency to make a real charge after drawing to within four goals.

Impact player Anna Thompson did her bit to keep the advantage with the Tactix as she quickly found her range under the hoop with a faultless display to help the home team protect its lead as it went into the last break 49-43 ahead.

The Mystics were unable to make much headway in reducing the Tactix buffer in a messy final quarter disrupted by injury and a flurry of movement from both benches as players got their last taste of the trans-Tasman competition for the season.

Overall the Mystics were accurate in the shooting circle but didn’t get enough ball to contend with their opposition shot wise.

 

Latu managed 92 percent with 36 from 39 and Cookey 17 from 18 for 94 percent while Jade Topia netted three from three.