THE Melbourne Vixens have started their 2022 Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) season in the perfect way, defeating the Queensland Firebirds by five goals.

The win was all set up by a stellar third term from the Vixens, who scored 25 goals in the term to take the ascendency, and ultimately the win.

It was goal for goal for much of the early part of the first term, and it took a rare footwork error from Gretel Bueta for the Vixens to take advantage and get multiple goals in a row. It looked like for much of the quarter that that was going to be the difference at quarter time, but a couple of super shots from Bueta meant that the Firebirds retook the lead and at quarter time held the lead by three goals.

Not only was it a high scoring term, but the shooters were very accurate from both sides. Kiera Austin was the only shooter to have not shot at 100 per cent in the first quarter.

It was very even again for much of the second term. Goal for goal for much of the term, but the Firebirds were able to at times get the margin out slightly to four goals.

The Vixens never gave up though, and they were able to bring the margin back to even, and then a late super shot from Mwai Kumwenda meant that it was the Vixens who held a two goal lead at the major break.

The Vixens came out of the half time break firing, and really put their foot down. They really got on top of the Firebirds and by the time the teams turned for home, the Vixens had a 13 goal lead.

After sitting the third term out on the bench, Donnell Wallam returned to the court at the start of the final term and got her team going a bit. The Vixens then got a goal back, but then the Firebirds cancelled it out only moments later.

The Vixens then took a time out and made some reactionary changes to try and stem the Firebirds’ momentum.

Although the Vixens did get a few goals, it was cancelled out by the Firebirds run. For every goal the Vixens got the Firebirds got two or three, so the match felt evenly poised. The margin was at seven goals, but then a super shot from Wallam brought it down to a mere five-goal margin.

A highlight of the final term came from Bueta, who took an excellent intercept and then kept working hard and ultimately scored herself a super shot. Although the Firebirds never gave up, they ultimately ran out of time and so the Vixens won by five goals.

It may have been a pretty comfortable win to the Vixens, the stats tell an interesting tale. Despite their dominance in particularly the third term, the Vixens had possession for only 37 per cent of the entire match, which is quite remarkable.

The penalty count was also quite high. The Firebirds recorded 87 penalties, while the Vixens recorded 69. Both sides also had pretty high shooting accuracy. The Vixens finished with a shooting accuracy percentage of 87 per cent, while the Firebirds’ percentage was only three percent lower.

Speaking of the shooters, all four of the main shooters (Wallam, Bueta, Kumwenda and Rahni Samason) were on song today.

Kumwenda was given Player of the Match honours and was on fire under the ring. She only missed one regular shot for the entire match but did only shoot at 20 per cent from Super Shot range. Samason was also stellar in a mainly goal attack role, and she did not miss a shot all game from either the regular zone or the Super Shot zone.

Jo Weston was superb in defece with four intercepts, two deflections and one rebound, pairing well with ex-Fever goal keeper Olivia Lewis who put her previous training work on Fowler into practice in a match, doing well with three rebounds, one intercept and one deflection. In the attacking end, Liz Watson picked up a game-high 22 goal assists in the wing.

Meanwhile for the Firebirds, Wallam had a stellar debut, and certainly proved that she belonged at SSN level. She shot at 100 per cent accuracy for much of the match, and she and Bueta proved they are going to be an exciting partnership in goals this season. Also impressive for the losing side was Gabi Simpson (two intercepts and two deflections) in wing defence, whilst Lara Dunkley and Kim Ravaillion combined well in midcourt.

Queensland Firebirds 18 | 12 | 14 | 21 (65)
Melbourne Vixens 15 | 17 | 25 | 13 (70)

Player of the Match: Mwai Kumwenda (Melbourne Vixens)

STARTING SEVENS:

Queensland Firebirds:

GS: Donnell Wallam
GA: Gretel Bueta
WA: Lara Dunkley
C: Kim Ravaillion
WD: Gabi Simpson
GD: Kim Jenner
GK: Eboni Usoro-Brown

Melbourne Vixens:

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