9 May 2011

Mystics beat Swifts

5:48 am on 9 May 2011

The Northern Mystics continue to rewrite the record books as they upset the New South Wales Swifts 49-45 in the minor semi-final of the trans-Tasman netball competition in Sydney.

This season the Mystics scored their first ever win in Australia, they qualified for the play-offs for the first time and now after controlling the entire match have moved within a game of the grand final.

The underdog Mystics produced a mostly flawless and methodical team effort on the back of a smothering defensive outing, control on attack and the brilliant shooting of Maria Tutaia and Cathrine Latu.

The Mystics will now play the loser of tonight's major semi-final between the Queensland Firebirds and the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic in next week's Preliminary Final.

Coach Debbie Fuller says they like to play that tricky smartarse style of netball but she asked them to put that away in the interests of the team and they did that.

Fuller says it was their first finals appearance and they played like they deserve to be here.

She says they played with a lot of patience and can't wait for the next match.