IT was a rematch of the 200th Suncorp Super Match to open Sunday’s proceedings, with both sides hungry to go one better than their controversial last outing. Early messiness and inaccuracy from the GIANTS saw a shaky start seemingly pay off against the Lightning, and while the Lightning were far cleaner and efficient, the GIANTS proved they are capable of pushing through messiness for a two-goal loss (67-65).

The combination between Kiera Austin and Jo Harten seemed to be strong as ever, and while Austin did not always look like her confident self inside the circle her movement with Harten opened some great attacking plays. A huge start from Steph Wood saw the Lightning goal attack hit the scoreboard with ease, using her strong drives to expose holes in Kristiana Manu’a and Sam Poolman’s defence, I’m everything further up the court. Cara Koenen’s cleanliness was paying off too, getting some great ball from Laura Langman who came out flying.

Harten just did not seem comfortable back in goal shooter, lacking her usual movement and allowing Karla Pretorius and Phumza Maweni to find the rebound. A super shot from Harten saw the GIANTS take the front and the goal shooter seem to gain a bit more confidence and energy which had been decidedly lacking. The defensive prowess of the Lightning seemed to have learned from their last outing, tightening up the pressure outside the circle and not allowing too many easy passes to Austin or Harten. It was a super shot shootout, with both Harten and Wood finding their range and going at 18 goals apiece at the first change. 

It was a great start from Maddie Hay in at wing attack, forming a great option on circle edge and winning the early battle against Maddy McAuliffe. Another crucial player was Jamie-Lee Price, who helped produce the goods defensively while April Brandley entered the fray against Wood, limiting easy movement into the circle. But when Wood was covered Koenen flourished, using her quick feet and dodge to exploit the baseline drive as the Lightning extended a three goal lead. 

The tight contest continued, with neither team really able to steal momentum despite some good patches here and there. McAuliffe has had a great season so far and that did not stop in this game, lifting her output in the second and executing a few great turnovers. What had been a relatively high scoring first term was a lot closer in the second, with the contest right and no easy passages down the court. Peace Proscovia headed into goal shooter during the super shot period to rebound Wood’s super shots, but the GIANTS defence had switched on and continued to put Wood off her game, seeing the GIANTS trail by just one at half time. 

Both teams started the second half with confidence, cleanly finding the post with ease and patience traversing the court. Neither side was able to break the centre pass, with both attack units firing from all cylinders and the youngsters at the post in Koenen and Austin finding ball with ease. Creative movement and zippy speed from Laura Scherian continued to ply directly into Koenen at the post, while the spatial awareness and speed of the GIANTS attack opened up opportunities. 

Tilly McDonell entered the court in goal keeper as the Lightning extended a seven goal lead as the super shot period began, although the GIANTS fought back to a one-goal margin thanks to back to back – to back – super shots. While McDonell’s influence was not huge over the shot, her ability to go out hunting saw the youngster impact enough to change the momentum of the game for the GIANTS to remain down by one at the final change despite trailing majority of the quarter. 

Tight midcourt defence continued to be the name of the game, with Langman stepping back to wing defence, Scherian injecting extra speed into centre and Wood stepping out to wing attack. Koenen’s footwork and combination with Proscovia did not seem to skip a beat, while the other end saw a huge matchup between Hay and Langman courtesy of Hay’s ability to send the ball into the circle. Errors from both sides saw the scoreline continue to waver, with hesitance through congestion forcing sloppy patches. With a three-goal margin and the super shot period in effect, Austin sunk one to reduce the margin as Wood rotated into goal attack once more. 

McAuliffe stepped into centre and had an immediate impact, seeing the margin tick back to four goals but the GIANTS in with a chance of the super shot fell. Willing to take the single shots, the Lightning managed another few as the side gained some control and much needed momentum forcing Julie Fitzgerald into a tactical timeout to stem the flow. Two super shots in a row from Harten saw the GIANTS pull the margin to just one goal once more before Wood dropped one last super shot to win the game by just one, moments after Harten put up another super shot to tie the scores. The Lightning came away with a tight 67-65 victory that was just as close a final margin as the entire contest had been.

For the winning side, player of the match Maweni was huge on the rebounding front with five to her name to go with her three gains (one intercept, two deflections) while Pretorius managed five gains from her three intercepts and eight deflections (two to advantage) and McAuliffe continued her fine form with two intercepts. For the GIANTS, Price racked up two intercepts to lead the charge with her 19 assists, while every single player who took the court in orange managed a deflection but to no avail. The Lightning attack saw 31 goals sunk by Koenen from 32 attempts, while Wood assisted well with 19 at 83 per cent accuracy and four super shots from eight attempts. Proscovia did her job well when she had her time at the post with 13 goals, while for the GIANTS Austin was threatening in goal attack with 31 goals (five super shots) and Harten was solid as ever with 22 goals at 77 per cent (seven super shots from eight). 

GIANTS TEAM PAGE

LIGHTNING TEAM PAGE

FULL MATCH STATS

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GIANTS NETBALL 18 | 12 | 17 | 17 (65)
SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING 18 | 13 | 17 | 18 (67)

GIANTS

GS: Jo Harten
GA: Kiera Austin
WA: Maddie Hay
C: Jamie-Lee Price
WD: Amy Parmenter
GD: Kristiana Manu’a
GK: Sam Poolman

Lightning

GS: Cara Koenen
GA: Steph Wood
WA: Laura Scherian
C: Laura Langman
WD: Maddy McAuliffe
GD: Karla Pretorius
GK: Phumza Maweni