DESPITE the Melbourne Derby not being played in Victoria, the game still lived up to the hype with Collingwood Magpies getting the chocolates over a struggling Melbourne Vixens unit (67-51). It was a tight opening quarter before Collingwood well and truly put the foot down in the final second half to notch up its third win of the season.

A late change by the Vixens gifted them the upper hand in attack with Emily Mannix pulling up sore, allowing shooting dynamo Rahni Samason to re-join the side for the match and subsequently earning the nod in goal attack. Jo Weston asserted herself on the game immediately, coming up with a huge rebound as the Vixens nailed the first two goals of the game. The scores were quickly levelled with Shimona Nelson and Gabby Sinclair finding their groove. But it was clear the Vixens came to play as they forged ahead, establishing a five goal lead midway through the term. Sharp execution through the midcourt and immense defensive pressure enabled the Vixens to stifle the Magpies in attack, with Kadie-Ann Dehaney and Weston working in overtime. The defensive duo was having a day out against both Sinclair and Nelson early, with Dehaney racking up the deflections.

The lead ballooned out to six goals before Collingwood went on a little run of its own to edge back into the contest. With the super shot in play, Sinclair made her presence felt sinking back to back goals to reduce the margin to a mere goal. The fast paced nature of the game was coming to the fore with the ball racing up and down the court, prompting the Vixens to call a timeout. With a tick over two minutes left to play, the scores were level at 12 goals apiece with both sides able to capitalise off their centre pass. The confidence was high for both attacking ends, with Kelsey Browne and Hannah Mundy both backing themselves for their respective sides.

It was goal for goal to start the term before Collingwood put their foot down with Geva Mentor plying her trade against youngster Samason. All of a sudden the Magpies were out to a three goal lead with Nelson having the rub of the green against Dehaney. The attacking unit of Collingwood as a whole was humming with Molly Jovic and Browne combining nicely around circle edge to feed cleverly into Nelson. The Magpies’ ability to convert off turnovers was the main difference as they created a four goal lead with the centre pass to follow. The fumbles started to come thick and fast for Collingwood while the combination between Samason and Mwai Kumwenda started to come into play with the two working their way into the contest.

There were only two goals separating the two sides as the battle continued to intensify. Jodi-Ann Ward showcased her impressive closing speed to come darting through for a handy pickup with the Magpies showcasing their ability to punish in attack. Samason made use of the super shot to keep the Vixens in the contest while the ball continued to fall the way of the black and white. Scrappiness crept into the game for both sides with balls trickling over the sideline and neither team able to transition with any ease. Jovic took the wind out of the Vixens sails with a huge intercept in the defensive third as she sent the ball rocketing back down the court as Collingwood went into half time up by four goals.

It was changes aplenty for the Vixens in the third quarter with Weston pushing out wing defence and Kate Eddy pulling on the goal defence bib. The changes did not stop there with Kaylia Stanton getting the nod in at goal attack to replace Samason. Collingwood continued to extend their lead with Nelson owning the front space and Sinclair upping the ante with her precise offloads. The Vixens were really laboured in transition unable to smoothly move down the court. Ash Brazill came to life in the third term as the lead blew out to a whopping eight goals in favour of the Pies.

The Vixens continued to make changes to their lineup as Kate Moloney pushed back into wing attack and Allie Smith made her way out on court in centre. But that did faze Collingwood as the Pies continued to motor, cherry picking passes down in defence and using their scintillating speed to slice open the Vixens. Samason re-entered the contest but it made little to no impact as the Pies found ways to punish the Vixens.

The final quarter was action packed as Weston came up big with an intercept and the Vixens made the most of the opportunity to convert a much needed goal. Despite all the efforts of the Vixens the 10 goal buffer remained as Collingwood impressed with their full court defensive pressure. Ward took advantage of her fancy footwork and defensive prowess while Browne showcased her speed to continuously hit circle edge with great ease as Collingwood continued to pepper away at the goals.

Inside the goal circle Nelson was the dominant Collingwood shooter finishing with 55 goals from 63 attempts. Sinclair was also dynamic with her three super shots and 25 goal assists. Speaking of goal assists Browne was also a force to be reckoned with amassing 18 for the match while Moloney was a lynchpin in attack for the Vixens notching up eight. Defensively Dehaney struggled with the goal keeper collecting three intercepts and four deflections. Fellow goal keeper in Mentor also imposed herself with three intercepts as Ward walked away with 10 deflections. Kumwenda was her reliable self under the post finishing with 28 goals at 88 per cent while Samason continued her merry way with 14 goals from 18 attempts.

COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES
MELBOURNE VIXENS

Magpies:

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

Vixens 

GS: Mwai Kumwenda
GA: Rahni Samason
WA: Hannah Mundy
C: Kate Moloney
WD: Kate Eddy
GD: Jo Weston
GK: Kadie-Ann Dehaney

Photo credit: AAP