The Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic notched their sixth win of the trans-Tasman netball championship, beating the Northern Mystics 50-35 in Rotorua last night.
But it was a less than convincing display from New Zealand's leading side, boasting six Silver Ferns in their line-up.
While Magic wing defence Joline Henry praised the Mystics for disrupting her side's flow, last year's runners-up failed to answer questions over their credibility as genuine contenders for the title this season with a flat display.
Playing a side with only two wins to their credit -- both over the winless Central Pulse -- the Magic failed to stamp their authority in defence and attack.
Their dominance in the first half was due to the fact shooters Irene Van Dyke and Maria Tutaia averaged just over 92 percent in their accuracy, sinking a total of 25 goals from 27 attempts.
The Mystics had their chances with Temepara George feeding her shooters well from an unaccustomed wing attack position.
They were able to put up 26 attempts but Cathrine Latu, nine from 14, and Pamela Cookey, 10 from 12, were unable to match their Magic counterparts' accuracy.
"We tried to slow their attacking flow through the court and I think we did that for half of the game but you need to do that for the full game to win it," George said.
The Magic attack was disjointed with slow ball through the court for much of the match.
Feeders Laura Langman and Frances Solia also failed to regularly feed good ball into the circle although at times they would look up to see no shooter available in the circle.
Too often, Van Dyk and Tutaia were unavailable for a pass, giving the Mystics' defence time to recover.
"We are happy to have the two points, happy we achieved some of the things we wanted to achieve," Henry said.
"We would have liked a more consistent performance but we were up against a quality side.
"They were quite good at disrupting our flow."
The result sees the Magic join the Melbourne Vixens, who have a game in hand, at the top of the table with 12 points.
The Mystics have the bye next round while the Magic travel to Invercargill to play the Southern Steel.
