COLLINGWOOD Magpies have kick-started their 2019 Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) season with a bang, running away with a 14-goal win over Sunshine Coast Lightning. The Magpies led early on and despite some challenges from the Lightning throughout, the Magpies’ defensive end led by April Brandley and Geva Mentor was superb. Up the other end, fellow recruits Nat Medhurst and Kelsey Browne proved their worth, while Steph Wood and Karla Pretorius stood up in defeat for the Lightning.

The connection between the midcourt and goalers for both sides was a little shaky, with Cara Koenen finally putting the first goal on the board 90 seconds into the match after both sides had a couple of turnovers from their usually reliable midcourt players. Former Lightning star, Browne finally found Shimona Nelson in the goal circle to level the scores and the Magpies started to find their rhythm in attack. The question over whether Medhurst would be willing to put up shots in the goal attack role that has plagued the Magpies over the past two years was quickly answered with a long bomb from the edge of the circle. Nelson’s long reach was helping the Magpies cause, with long balls into the circle looking like missing completely, but Nelson stuck the one mitt up and controlled the ball.

The Magpies were finding space across the court with Browne, Kim Ravaillion and Ash Brazill all using cross-court passes to searching leads with great accuracy. The Magpies had luck on their side as well, with Nelson accidentally passing between Browne’s legs only for Browne to recover and assist Nelson. Browne was a star in the first term with the wing attack and Medhurst providing plenty of drive into the circle. The Magpies’ defensive trio was equally as impressive, breaking down the Lightning’s attack, to lead by as much as six goals with less than four minutes left. Laura Scherian was busy in the midcourt, while Wood was the main player getting the ball through to Koenen close to the post. The Lightning forced an intercept but thanks to Nelson nailing a goal on the first quarter buzzer, the Magpies led 15-10.

The second term started off with some end-to-end action as both sides got the ball into the goal circle relatively strongly as all four goalers put a goal on the board in the first four shots. The Lightning struck first capitalising from a turnover, cutting the deficit to three goals five minutes into the term. Phumza Maweni won a crucial one-on-one against Nelson and all of a sudden the Lightning had shot from six goals down to trailing by just the two midway through the term. The home side steadied for Nelson to score one before a timeout and have shot all four attempts in the quarter.

Laura Langman’s leadership through midcourt was showing in her return game for the Lightning, combining well with Scherian to keep the visitors in contention. Medhurst’s contribution for her new side was equally as telling, putting up shots and sending off assists to Nelson, using all of her 220 elite level game experience. The teams traded turnovers as the two sides were moving the ball fast to try and unsettle their opposition defences. Wood’s shooting from long range was a treat, but the first shot she missed the Magpies made her pay with Nelson scoring her ninth of the term. The issue of chest passes still seemed to be plaguing Nelson, dropping a bullet in from Browne and the Lightning capitalising. With the bonus point on the line, Sunshine Coast kept pressing, and Wood nailed a fadeaway jumper as she was floating out of court, to give the Lightning the point with a 13-12 quarter. The Magpies still led by four goals however, controlling the game, 27-23.

The sides went toe-for-toe after the break, but a turnover from the usually reliable Langman saw the magpies take full advantage with back-to-back Nelson goals and stretch their lead to seven. There were some gasps in the crowd and disbelief on Nelson’s face when what she believed to be a penalty on Maweni was not called and the Lightning rushed it down the other end and cut the deficit. Another turnover and then a characteristic intercept from Mentor had the Pies with all the momentum midway through the quarter, but Wood’s shooting from range was still proving to be a thorn in the Magpies’ side.

Nelson’s accuracy was becoming another concern, missing three attempts to go with her four misses in the first term. The Lightning were starting to turn the momentum and the Magpies needed to make the most of their chances. Mentor was superb in the defensive circle on Koenen, but the Magpies just could not find their range with even Medhurst missing. They were being saved by turnovers and penalties up their defensive end, but were looking shaky with passes into the circle. Despite everything, when a timeout was called with 3:25 on the court, the Magpies still lead the quarter 9-8. The Lightning took the break to bring Jacqui Rusell onto wing attack for Scherian, and Ugandan shooter Peace Proscovia on for Koenen. The break seemed to fire up the Magpies who piled on the first two goals to take the lead back out to seven goals. Despite Mentor’s best efforts, Proscovia scored her first goal of her Suncorp Super Netball career, but the Lightning still trailed by six goals, with Magpies taking a second bonus point.

Much like the first term, the Magpies got the early extra break, scoring the first two goals of the term before Proscovia could respond for the Lightning. Another Mentor intercept again sent the home crowd into raptures as Nelson’s strong hands above her head were back, allowing the Magpies to race away to a 5-1 lead in the term, and double figures on the scoreboard. One of the premiership favourites were hitting their straps the longer the game went on as the defence, midcourt and offence seemed to be on the same wave length. With nine minutes left, Scherian returned to the line-up for Russell. It did little to faze the Magpies however, as the defensive pressure was forcing scoreboard pressure up the court. In the blink of an eye, the margin was out to 16 goals and the Magpies all but secured seven of a possible eight points to join the Vixens at the top-of-the-table.

A massive hit between Scherian and Browne in the middle of the court saw Browne come off second best, but the Lightning with the ball. The game in hand, Magpies took the chance to bring on all three bench players, resting Ravaillion, Brandley and Medhurst to bring on Kelsie Rainbow (centre), Melissa Bragg (goal defence) and Gabrielle Sinclair (goal attack) with a few minutes remaining. While the passing through the midcourt looked understandably shaky, there was no danger of the Magpies dropping any points, and both Rainbow and Sinclair achieved their black and white debuts at the elite level. Eventually the Magpies achieved the points with a 57-43 victory and the song rang out across the stadium as they started off on the right foot against the back-to-back reigning premiers.

Brandley was named Player of the Match with two rebounds and two intercepts, while Mentor was phenomenal in goal keeper, having four intercepts and a couple of rebounds, and Browne was dynamic in attack with 22 goal assists and 33 feeds. Nelson (46 goals from 54 attempts) had her moments, while Medhurst fed the ball perfectly with 14 assists and 20 feeds to go with her 11 from 15. For the Lightning, Wood’s long-range shooting was a delight despite a shaky final term, finishing with 15 goals from 22 attempts, and also 21 assists and 27 feeds. In defence, Pretorius had a game-high six intercepts, while Maweni had the three intercepts and four rebounds on Nelson. Overall the Magpies ticked off the first win of the season, something they had not achieved in two prior attempts, while the Lightning tested nine of their 10 players on the day.

STARTING LINE-UPS:

Collingwood Magpies:

GS | Shimona Nelson
GA | Nat Medhurst
WA | Kelsey Browne
C | Kim Ravaillion
WD | Ash Brazill
GD | April Brandley
GK | Geva Mentor

Sunshine Coast Lightning:

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