JUST nine days on from their first battle of the season, GIANTS Netball hosted Melbourne Vixens in what was really a make or break for the GIANTS if they wanted to put pressure on the top four, but it was the Vixens that ran away with a percentage-boosting 20-goal victory (73-53).

In Jamie-Lee Price’s 100th game the GIANTS came out flying defensively but could not seem to control the contest. It was a sloppy start from the ladder leaders, with the GIANTS controlling the Vixens frontline with ease to begin but it was the Vixens that got the first break and another turnover to extend an early lead. The defensive long arm brigade of Emily Mannix, Jo Weston and Kate Eddy held up the GIANTS down the court to extend a 5-1 start despite being slow to get their first on the board. 

With Kate Moloney and Liz Watson happy to hang around in the pockets, the GIANTS seemed at a loss to stop the Vixens attack. But while the Vixens had to chip the ball around a lot to get the ball into the circle, the GIANTS had no issue finding Kiera Austin and Jo Harten inside the goal circle, with their seamless rotation on show. Continued errors plagued the GIANTS attack though, giving up a couple of wasteful turnovers and allowing the Vixens to extend to a 12-4 lead. 

Austin opened up the last five minutes of the quarter with a great super shot to narrow the Vixens lead, and while the Vixens were happy to chip away at the single shots, the super shots continued to go through for the GIANTS as they reduced the scoreline to just four. While the Vixens were still in control, Harten’s long bombs were on show and the defensive pressure of the Vixens needed to lift if they were to remain in front, leading at the first change by four.

An even start saw both teams win off their own centre passes early in the second quarter, with the injection of Tegan Philip paying off for the Vixens as the goal attack opened up space. But the GIANTS would not go away, not allowing the Vixens to pull away once again with the introduction of Tilly McDonell into goal keeper adding a new defensive element against Mwai Kumwenda at the post.

Neither team was able to take advantage of any breaks or turnovers, seeing the four-goal lead remain for majority of the quarter but the super shot period looming once more. It was Kumwenda who sunk the first super shot of the second on a GIANTS centre pass, with the next centre allowing the Vixens to extend to a seven goal lead. A great deflection from McDonell saw the GIANTS gain a few goals back as the super shots continued to fall and reducing to a one goal margin. The Vixens managed to stay ahead though, capitalising off further GIANTS errors but with Harten adding a seventh super shot to her tally it was just a five-goal lead the way of the Vixens heading into the main change.

A huge third quarter saw Caitlin Bassett start in goal shooter, while Amy Parmenter took the court in wing defence to take on Watson. It was ball delivery that seemed to be hurting the GIANTS in attack, with Eddy and Weston rotating and the change paying off almost immediately. The battle between Parmenter and Watson was huge, with the Vixens co-captain darting down court with ease but some uncharacteristic errors creeping in on transition to attack. But Mannix switched on against Bassett, picking up the scraps and doing what she does best, cherry picking the ball out of the air despite the height difference.

Caitlin Thwaites returned to the court as the Vixens added another few goals to their tally, but the work rate from the GIANTS seemed to lift once more with Price stepping up to the plate to get hands to the turnover ball the GIANTS needed so bad. A super shot from Austin saw the Vixens call a tactical timeout, with the expected rotation between Bassett and Harten made and GIANTS defence forcing the Vixens wide to generate some handy turnovers.

But the connections in attack seemed to not fire for the GIANTS, with a lack of drive and eventually the change was made, with Austin and Harten making the switch with Harten’s extra defensive pressure up the midcourt paying dividends. The hands over pressure from the GIANTS defence in Kristiana Manu’a and Sam Poolman continued to block vision to the post but it seemed to be no issue for the Vixens goalers, who extended a 12-goal lead as the GIANTS struggled to hit the scoreboard to finish the third quarter. 

Two traditional-looking goal circles opened the final quarter with combinations of Thwaites and Philip and Harten and Bassett switching up the circles. With late contests causing messiness across the court, both goal keepers in Mannix and Manu’a kicked it up a notch once more to send the ball flying between the two goal thirds. Better feeds into the GIANTS circle allowed Bassett to add a few more goals to her tally, but great understanding and experience between the Vixens in attack saw the away side maintain their lead. With 10 goals the difference and eight minutes to play, both sides needed a break to ensure they came away with the win with the super shot meaning neither team was out of the race.

Mannix left the court for what looked like a minor injury and Kadie-Ann Dehaney took the court in goal keeper, and while the Vixens continued to pull out all the stops in defence Parmenter and Price did not let up as they created some immense turnovers in attempt to switch up the momentum. When the super shots needed to fall for the GIANTS the connections just did not go in their favour, with youngster Matisse Letherbarrow into goal attack alongside Bassett but Eddy’s niggling style of play and long arms from Dehaney saw the Vixens generate a wealth of ball back and the Vixens adding to their lead for a great 20-goal victory (73-53).

GIANTS seemed scrappy throughout and it showed on the stats sheet, with 20 more penalties than the Vixens. Leading the goaling charge was Kumwenda with 32 (two super shots) and Thwaites up next with 20, with GIANTS captain Harten next in line with 18 from 23, including a whopping seven super shots which well and truly kept the GIANTS in the match. Through the midcourt, Watson dominated with 33 assists – her second round on the trot over 30 – and 48 feeds, while Moloney managed 18 and four intercepts. Maddie Hay led the assists tally for the GIANTS with 19, while Price had nine and three in a more defensive outing for the 100-gamer. The Vixens defensive unit was bolstered by Moloney’s impact through the centre, and collectively the trio of Mannix, Eddy and Weston managed 13 gains to beat the overall GIANTS tally of 10 between them. 

>>>GIANTS TEAM PAGE
>>>VIXENS TEAM PAGE
>>>FULL MATCH STATS

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GIANTS NETBALL 15 | 19 | 8 | 11 (53)
MELBOURNE VIXENS 19 | 20 | 15 | 19 (73)

GIANTS

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

Vixens

GS: Mwai Kumwenda
GA: Caitlin Thwaites
WA: Liz Watson
C: Kate Moloney
WD: Kate Eddy
GD: Jo Weston
GK: Emily Mannix