11 Jul 2010

NZ netball team Magic lose grand final to Thunderbirds

9:14 pm on 11 July 2010

The Adelaide Thunderbirds have beaten the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic 52-42 in netball's trans-Tasman championship final in Australia.

The Magic beat the Thunderbirds by nine goals in Rotorua just three weeks ago, but in front of a capacity crowd of 9300 in their home town, the Thunderbirds took the lead right from the start, and at times the Magic trailed by up to 12 goals.

The Magic shooting pair of Irene van Dyk and Jodi Brown had no answers for the Thunderbirds defence, with Geva Mentor and Mo'onia Gerrard forcing mistakes and picking up a lot of turnover ball.

It's the second time the Magic have come off second best in the grand final, after being defeated by the New South Wales Swifts in 2008.

In 2009, the Thunderbirds were beaten by the Melbourne Vixens.

Warriors win National Rugby League match

The Warriors overcame their own sloppiness and some tough refereeing calls to secure their fourth straight win with a 12-6 NRL victory over Penrith in Sydney today.

The Warriors were hammered 11-3 in the penalty count and forced to make 70 more tackles than the Panthers thanks to plenty of dropped ball.

But they clung on to move to sixth spot on the ladder as Penrith remained in second.

James Maloney and Manu Vatuvei scored tries for the Warriors.