THE Melbourne Vixens staked their claim as finals contenders against the GIANTS with a convincing nine-goal win. The lead chopped and changed in the opening term before the Vixens put the foot down and took full control of the game to push out to a whopping 15-goal margin. But the GIANTS fought back in the final term to put some respectability back onto the scoreboard.

Emily Mannix broke the record for the most intercepts surpassing the likes of netball great Sharni Layton, amassing an impressive nine intercepts for the game. The Vixens goal keeper was in hot form right from the get go imposing herself on the contest and using her clever footwork to get around the body of GIANTS shooter and Australian captain Caitlin Bassett. In the first term alone Mannix whipped up four intercepts and four gains, nullifying the influence of Bassett to post pushing her up high and contesting every ball that came her way. With Bassett covered in the circle, goal attack Jo Harten was forced to do a wealth of work both in and out of the circle but it was not enough to keep up with the Vixens who transitioned down the court with ease. Both Caitlin Thwaites and Tegan Philip put on a masterclass in the goal circle not missing a shot and picking holes in the opposition defence to find good space under the post and capitalise on turnover ball. Philip shouldered the load nailing 11 straight with Thwaites coming up through the middle of the circle to provide the goal attack with ample space to drive along the baseline and score. Defensively the GIANTS struggled with Sam Poolman and Kristiana Manu’a unable to reduce the influence of Thwaites and Philip to post conceding 19 goals.

With the GIANTS goal circle struggling to connect and the attacking third lacking a spark, Julie Fitzgerald made a surprise change by benching Bassett and bringing on young gun Kiera Austin. The change up saw Harten move into goal shooter and Austin into goal attack giving the Vixens defenders something different to think about. The 21-year-old shooter made her presence felt on the scoreboard finding the net with ease, slotting six from seven at 86 per cent but her lack of court time showed with three turnovers in the second quarter alone due to miscommunications. Up the other end, wing defence Amy Parmenter injected herself into the game using her speed and timing to get hands to ball, picking up two intercepts and two gains but her efforts were overshadowed by the attacking prowess of Liz Watson. Watson showcased her sheer class around the goal circle with impressive feeds and perfectly weighted passes while also highlighting her defensive abilities with one intercept and one gain to go with her 10 centre pass receives. The Vixens continued to hit their straps with their slick ball movement down the court, dynamic leads and vision to pierce through the defence and provide easy avenue to goal picking up their second bonus point of the game.

Down by 12 goals at half time the Vixens looked hungry and continued to contest hard for every ball and put doubt in the feeders mind, hunting the cross court ball and using their footwork to get to the ball cleanly. Kate Moloney upped the intensity across the court hitting the circle edge hard and using her defensive attributes to pick up an intercept and a gain in the third term. Meanwhile her direct opponent Jamie-Lee Price worked tirelessly through the midcourt but was unable to penetrate the circle edge with the same ease. The GIANTS centre also drew plenty of attention from the umpire conceding five contact penalties gifting the Vixens back their fair share of ball. Midway through the term the GIANTS cut it down to 10 goals before making yet another change under the post with Bassett re-entering the game and pushing Harten to the bench. It took a while for the GIANTS attack end to adjust allowing the Vixens to capitalise on errant passes extending their lead back out to 14 goals at three quarter time.

Fitzgerald reverted to her starting goal circle with Bassett in shooter and Harten in goal attack while Austin stayed out there but moved into wing attack. Veteran, Kim Green made her way to the bench after a relatively quiet night for her, struggling to find space and coughing up a lot of turnover ball credit to the work of Renae Ingles who shut down her space and leads. With the connection between the two goalers on song a late flurry from the GIANTS saw them get back within nine goals and claim their only bonus point for the game. But in the end the Vixens were too strong with Mannix leading the way in defence, forcing constant changes and working well in tandem with Jo Weston to confuse the space while Thwaites top scored with 40 goal from 42 attempts at 95 per cent.

STARTING LINE-UPS:

GIANTS Netball:

GS | Caitlin Bassett
GA | Jo Harten
WA | Kim Green
C | Jamie-Lee Price
WD | Amy Parmenter
GD | Kristiana Manu’a
GK | Sam Poolman

Melbourne Vixens:

GS | Caitlin Thwaites
GA | Tegan Philip
WA | Liz Watson
C | Kate Moloney
WD | Renae Ingles
GD | Jo Weston
GK | Emily Mannix