AFTER contending with everything the Collingwood Magpies threw at them, the GIANTS took out Sunday’s Super Netball semi-final 55-48, to keep their season alive.

It was a contest of seesawing momentum shifts, and despite the seven-goal final margin, the result went down to the wire.

The GIANTS were led by some exceptional work from Maddie Hay in the middle (45 feeds, 18 goal assists, three deflections), while Jo Harten shot a whopping four super shots to give her side some momentum later in the game.

Despite Shimona Nelson doing a mountain of work for the Magpies under the ring and only missing one shot, her fellow shooters did not follow suit, leaving her to carry much of the load.

Thanks to some very good work from their defenders, the GIANTS were able to pinch a goal off the first centre pass of the game, however Collingwood did the exact same thing to the GIANTS off the very next centre pass.

Although the scoring went with the centre passes for much of the opening five minutes, the GIANTS were finding the path to goal much smoother than the visitors, with the GIANTS able to split defenders with relative ease.

It saw the GIANTS take the early lead, and they were able to maintain it for the rest of the quarter. The margin got out to as much as three goals, but at quarter time it sat just below that at a mere two goals.

Some errant passing from the Magpies did not help their cause in the opening term, but they were far from out of the clash.

After pinching a goal off the first centre pass of the second quarter, the Magpies were able to eliminate the lead in as many centre passes.

The Magpies eventually took the lead, but it did not happen straight away.

They then went about building a buffer, but one thing that did help them was that the GIANTS had issues with passes up in their forward circle that were similar to what the Pies were having in the opening term.

The Magpies’ lead got out to as much as four during the term, but they could not shake the GIANTS, as the latter brought it back within two in the power five.

Ultimately the margin was three at the main break, but it was not clear who was going to ultimately win.

As things started to become aggressive in the shooting circles, the GIANTS lifted and eliminated the Collingwood lead in just over five minutes.

The teams traded blows in the middle part of the quarter, before trading the lead in the back end of the term.

Ultimately it was a five-goal lead to the GIANTS at the final change, but it was really still anyone’s game.

The Magpies came right back at the GIANTS at the start of the final term, and brought the margin back to two.

However, the GIANTS then regained momentum and were rewarded with a handy buffer.

The Magpies did not lay down though, and it came down to the final minute to see who would ultimately take the win.

In the end, Gabrielle Sinclair could not sink the super shots needed as Sophie Dwyer did as the GIANTS took the seven-goal victory.

Moving on to the preliminary final stage, the Giants will now take on the Melbourne Vixens to find out who will join West Coast Fever in this year’s decider.

GIANTS NETBALL                           13 | 12 | 18 | 12 (55)
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES             11 | 17 | 11 | 9 (48)

STARTING SEVENS

GIANTS Netball:

GS: Jo Harten
GA: Sophie Dwyer
WA: Maddie Hay
C: Jamie-Lee Price
WD: Amy Parmenter
GD: April Brandley
GK: Tilly McDonnell

Collingwood Magpies:

GS: Shimona Nelson
GA: Sophie Garbin
WA: Kelsey Browne
C: Molly Jovic
WD: Ash Brazill
GD: Jodi-Ann Ward
GK: Geva Mentor