A MANIAC second half saw Casey Demons and Melbourne University Lightning forced to split the points in their Round 9 Victorian Netball League (VNL) contest 58 goals apiece.

Melbourne Uni was dominant in the first half, but a stellar third term from Casey really made things interesting again. Casey pinched a goal off the very first centre of the match, and then shot the next goal to hold the Demons lead.

The lead did not last long though as the Lightning went on a run to draw even again so the game returned to being on centre pass. The Lightning shooters Mikaela Vaughan and Claudia Mawson were on song as they took the three  goal lead midway through the quarter.

Despite Stephanie McNay delivering some lovely intercepts in defence for Casey, some miscommunication at times up the other end was not helping the Dees. Errant passing did not help them either. The Lightning were able to maintain their buffer for the remainder of the quarter, and at the first change the margin sat at four in their favour.

It was Uni who pulled off a break off the first centre of the second term, but the Dees broke back the very next centre pass. Sinead Lumsden really found her accuracy and range early for the Dees, and was able to prove that height is just a number. Her good shooting and quick work into fellow shooter Emma Ryde helped Casey bring the margin back to only one goal as Uni started to seem a bit rattled at times.

The Dees early work did not avail to much though, as Melbourne Uni were able to re-establish their lead and extend it even further then they could in the first. The Lightning really got on a run late in the quarter, and took a nine goal lead into the main break.

Casey got the far better start to the third term, and suddenly the margin was reduced to a mere single goal. The Demons continued to outshoot the Lightning and level things up with just over five minutes to go. Ryde was the star for the Dees, shooting 20 goals for the quarter as Casey more than doubled their half time score as they took a three goal lead into the final change.

After Uni equalled things up early in the last term, teams traded blows and things were heading towards a draw. It was dead even heading into the final minute of play, with one mistake having the potential to prove all the difference. One errant pass from the Dees saw the Lightning able to kill some time and score, but then Ryde responded for Casey with a matter of seconds left to draw the match.

In other results, there were other matches that could have been one sided but turned out to be rather close. The Wilson Storage Southern Saints had an upset win over the North East Blaze by the smallest of margins, while the City West Falcons and Peninsula Waves both had wins over Boroondara and Hawks Netball respectively.

There is still one match left in round nine, with the Ariels set to battle Geelong on Sunday.

VNL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 9 RESULTS

Peninsula Waves (58) defeated Hawks Netball (52)
Southern Saints (51) defeated North East Blaze (50)
City West Falcons (49) defeated Boroondara Express (34)
Casey Demons (58) drew with Melbourne University Lightning (58)
Ariels vs. Geelong Cougars – Will be played on Sunday