MELBOURNE Vixens got their first win on the board thanks to the elevation of superstar shooter Rahni Samason. The young goaler lived out every girls fantasy nailing the winning shot after the siren to defeat the Queensland Firebirds (66-64).

Tongues were sent wagging as Samason got the nod for the Melbourne Vixens in at goal shooter with the youngster making her Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) debut. She oozed confidence from the opening minute looking for Mwai Kumwenda. The Firebirds were up and about early with their connections through the midcourt on full show. Kim Ravaillion was off to the races up against Kate Moloney with the Firebirds centre hitting circle edge with great ease to dictate play. After a shaky performance last round, the powerhouse duo of Gretel Bueta and Romelda Aiken were on song as the two created a wealth of space inside the circle. Their accuracy was also up as they capitalised on their opportunities in attack to weave the ball down the court. Without Emily Mannix, it was Kadie-Ann Dehaney that got the nod and the goal keeper did not disappoint coming up big with a nicely timed deflection. Jemma Mi Mi was finding plenty of space around circle edge to manoeuvre the ball into the goalers.

Trailing by as much as four goals, a couple of strong turnovers from the Vixens enabled them to edge their way back into the contest and dwindle the margin back to one goal. Aiken was in scintillating form, reeling in the high ball and proving to be a force to be reckoned with. Down in defence, Kim Jenner and Tara Hinchliffe were running amuck as the duo picked off passes at will and limited the chance of the Vixens to move the ball with any fluidity in attack. It turned into a super shot shootout but this time it was not the usual suspect as Aiken nailed two consecutive long bombs to bring the crowd well and truly to life. Moments later both Kumwenda and Samason answered the call before Bueta wanted a piece of the action with a super shot of her own as the Firebirds established an eight-goal lead.

It was much of the same in the second term as Tippah Dwan got the nod in at goal attack for the Firebirds with her connection with Aiken coming to the fore. The duo kept Jo Weston and Dehaney guessing with the the Firebirds goalers taking full advantage of high floating pass to keep the Vixens defenders head on a swivel. A win from Dehany down back propelled the Vixens in attack as they snuck back to a six-goal deficit. The Vixens piled on four goals straight and with that prompted the Firebirds to call a timeout. Lara Dunkley made her way onto the court as did Bueta and immediately the Firebirds looked more damaging.

The combination between Samason and Kumwenda was something to behold as the duo found their rhythm. Hannah Mundy was up and about in wing attack for the visitors as the pace kicked up a notch. It was end to end work from Samason as she picked up an intercept and then finished it off with a nice super shot to cull the margin back to six goals. Allie Smith also made her way onto the court for the Vixens as they looked to eat into the margin. there were two different approaches out on court as the Vixens looked for the super shot as the Firebirds looked for a more consistent approach to post. A late rally from the Vixens saw them fight their way back into the contest as just two goals separated them at half-time.

Firebirds came out with a real pep in their step nailing the first two goals of the third term. Their slick ball movement enabled the home side to extend their lead to four goals as Mi Mi showcased her fancy footwork. Weston came up big with a nice intercept and all of a sudden the Vixens were back in it. Hinchliffe continued her hot start to the game getting hands to ball time and time again. it was a frantic start to the term littered with turnovers aplenty and the ball streaming up and down the court. Queensland made a couple of changes through the midcourt with Mi Mi swinging into centre and Dunkley back on wing attack to provide a spark to the frontend.

The raggedy nature of the game continued throughout with neither side able to wrestle momentum. Rudi Ellis made her way on in at goal keeper but that did not seem to bother the Vixens as Samason and Kumwenda went on their merry way. Dehaney showcased her class flying through the air to snap up an intercept. For the first time since the opening term scores were level as the Vixens stole all the momentum. Tensions rose with both sides capitalising on the super shot but it was the Firebirds that held the lead.

Queensland nailed the first goal of the term but the Vixens impressed as Dehaney got hands to ball to once again tie things up for the Vixens. Kate Eddy made her way back into the game for the Vixens with the wing defence searching for an extra gear in defence. Queensland pushed out to a three goal lead but it did not take long for the Vixens to eat their way back into the contest with both sides going goal for goal. A Jenner inspired intercept spurred the Firebirds on as they went on a three goal scoring spree but that was shortly lived as the Vixens did the unthinkable. A shot after the siren off the hand of Samason gifted the visitors their first win of the season and broke Firebirds hearts.

Kumwenda had a strong outing sinking 29 goals from 32 attempts at 91 per cent, while Samason had a debut performance to remember thanks to her 100 per cent accuracy with 19 goals and eight super shots to finish with 27 goals to her name. Mundy had her best performance to date racking up 16 goal assists while defensively Dehaney impressed thanks to her eight gains, three intercepts and four rebounds. For the Firebirds, Aiken was the main port of call sinking 41 goals from 47 attempts as Bueta chimed in with 18 goals at 75 per cent. Ravaillion had the ball on a string amassing 18 goal assists while Hinchliffe led the troops down back with four intercepts and only eight penalties.

QUEENSLAND FIREBIRDS 24 | 13 | 16 | 11 (64)
MELBOURNE VIXENS 16 | 19 | 16 | 15 (66)

STARTING SEVEN:

Firebirds:

GS: Romelda Aiken
GA: Gretel Bueta
WA: Jemma Mi Mi
C: Kim Ravaillion
WD: Gabi Simpson
GD: Kim Jenner
GK: Tara Hinchliffe

Vixens:

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

Photo credit: Suncorp Super Netball