IT was an overtime thriller between Collingwood Magpies and Sunshine Coast Lightning in the last match of the split bye round, with the latter just getting over the line by two goals, 67-65. It was neck and neck for much of the game with both sides contesting hard and unable to generate easy flow in what was a seesawing affair.

Collingwood jumped out of the gates with an attacking first term of netball. Cara Koenen was the first off the mark while, in her milestone 50^th game, Shimona Nelson answered the call for the visitors. It was goal for goal in the opening couple of minutes with both sides settling into their rhythm and connecting nicely. A flurry of goals from the Magpies midway through the term gave them the upper hand as Gabby Sinclair and Nelson found their groove inside the circle. Nelson was showcasing her strength on the take withstand the physicality and contest from both Phumza Maweni and Karla Pretorius. Collingwood’s one-goal deficit quickly turned into a four-goal lead with the midcourt led by Molly Jovic humming along. Jovic used her change of direction and speed to hit circle edge time and time again.

Jodi-Ann Ward was proving to be a nuisance down in defence with her constant ability to create turnovers and deflections. She came screaming through for an intercept and propelled the ball into the Magpies front-half as Collingwood continued to motor along. Her pressure alongside Geva Mentor was second to none, shutting down Steph Wood’s space and forcing her into uncharacteristic turnovers such as stepping calls. Transition was not proving to be an issue for the Pies as the ball flew from one end of the court to the other in the blink of an eye, and although the Lightning fought their way back into the contest in patches they simply could not do enough to control Collingwood’s frontend which was operating at full throttle.

Holding a handy five-goal lead at the break, Nelson took no time to add to the margin extending the buffer to six. But the Lightning had other plans with Koenen upping the ante and using her baseline drives to open up the goal circle. The goal shooter single-handedly brought the home side back into the contest stringing together three consecutive goals to inch back to within three. the combination of Laura Scherian and Mahalia Cassidy was starting to come to fruition as they found good space around circle edge to feed into Koenen who was ruling the roost against Mentor.

Kelsey Browne showcased some athleticism taking a ball in the pocket on full stretch to keep the Magpies moving along in attack. Despite the Lightning mounting somewhat of a comeback, Collingwood impressed with their composure and smarts to not force the ball but rather work it around and forge ahead. With less than five minutes to play in the term the Lightning leveled the scores off the hand of Koenen and then jumped ahead. That goal-for-goal momentum was reignited before the Magpies hit their straps in the last minute with Nelson proving to be a thorn in their side with three goals straight as half time arrived.

Scoring slowed down in the third quarter with both sides looking somewhat fatigued however it was Collingwood that came out the better in the first few minutes with two goals straight. It was turning into a goal shooter showdown with Koenen and Nelson paving the way for their respective sides. With the lead once again pushing out to five goals it was Koenen that worked her side back into the contest, while Maddy McAuliffe was up and about through the centre and Wood displayed her crafty court play to slice through Mentor and Ward to deliver into Koenen.

The momentum was starting to favour the Lightning but Ash Brazill was not set on that releasing long bombs left, right and centre to once again forge the Pies ahead. Sunshine Coast were not afraid to let go of cross court balls using their angles to open up the court. It was turning into a real battle with the ball often ebbing and flowing as the two sides struggled to find their mojo. Peace Proscovia entered the fray after a timeout to give the Magpies something different to look at while Koenen pushed out to goal attack. Pretorius was up and about cherry picking intercepts but that did not seem to faze Collingwood who maintained a four goal lead.

The final term was just as action packed as the Lightning finally clicked into gear. Proscovia started to come into the game doing the heavy lifting under the post while Koenen was also having an influence out the front. The home side steadily edged closer with the Lightning bringing on Binnian Hunt on in wing attack to provide some extra height in attack. The intensity continued to rise with each and every player leaving nothing to chance. A missed shot from Nelson on the siren sent the game into overtime and with that the Sunshine Coast Lightning shifted up a gear. Koenen got proceedings underway in extra time before Nelson tied the scores. It was a frantic two minutes with Ward sparking her side with back to back intercepts but it was to no avail as the Lightning found a way to retain possession and steal the win.

It was a good day to be a goal shooter with Koenen piling on 46 goal from 52 attempts while Nelson finished with 52 from 57. Wood managed nine goals at 75 per cent while also picking up 19 goal assists with Scherian the next best with 15 assists. Sinclair slotted 13 goals from 15 attempts while she also racked up 26 goal assists. Jovic was influential with her 16 assists and an intercept while Brazill and Ward combined for 10 gains and five intercepts, with the latter picking up four alone.

SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING 14 | 17 | 12 | 19 | 5 (67)
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES 19 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 3 (65)

Lightning: 

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

Magpies:

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

Photo credit: Getty Images