MELBOURNE Vixens have defeated the Sunshine Coast Lightning 60-56 in for what much of the match was an absolute arm-wrestle. Sunshine Coast matched it with the Vixens for much of the match, but fell away for much of the last quarter which let the Vixens back into the match and ultimately the win.

The opening quarter was characterised by short lived leads and plenty of runs of consecutive goals from both sides. After a mistake off a Lightning centre pass from the visitors, the Vixens were the first to pinch a goal off an opposing centre pass and then converted to consolidate their lead.

However, thanks to some great defensive pressure it was not long before the Lightning were able to pinch one back and eliminate the deficit. The Vixens then went two in a row to retake the lead before the Lightning took the next three.

It was the kind of quarter where neither side was giving an inch and even the smallest of errors were getting swiftly punished. The score was dead even at the beginning of the Power Five, and while the Lightning lead comfortably for most of the Power Five, the margin was back to only two in their favour at the first change.

The Vixens did not take too long to eliminate the deficit at the beginning of the second term, seeing to it inside the opening couple of minutes. After almost half the quarter of going goal for goal, the Lightning capitalised on a few turnover ball opportunities to properly retake the lead.

The Lightning held a four goal lead as the second Power Five period hit, and kept growing it as the period progressed. Even when it got out to as much as an eight goal margin, the Vixens did not go to the Super Shot straight away, not even until the final minute of the quarter.

Two late Super Shots to the Vixens saw the margin back at a mere two goals again at the main break. It was goal for goal again to begin the third term as neither side was giving an inch.

The pattern continued right the way through the quarter as it was impossible for either side to break from the other. However, with just over three minutes to go and thanks in part to some acrobatics from Kate Eddy, the Vixens finally went on a run and eliminated the deficit.

The Vixens finally found their gear and had a remarkable turnaround in the way they were playing, and by the time the teams turned for home they were the ones leading by two goals.

That turnaround late in the third quarter really seemed to spark something in the Vixens. They were playing with a lot more confidence early in the last quarter, and they were benefitting from it on the scoreboard. The Lightning just seemed to run of gas a little as the Vixens took control.

The Vixens just kept growing their lead as the quarter progressed, but once it hit Power Five the Lightning shooters Steph Wood and Cara Koenen really found their form from Super Shot range and the margin became tight again. However, the Lightning ran out of time to completely eliminate the deficit, with the Vixens winning by four.

For the Vixens Liz Watson (37 feeds, 21 assists) was an absolute workhorse in defence, while Jo Weston (seven gains, five deflections, three intercepts, one rebound) and Eddy (two gains, two intercepts) were impressive in defence.

Meanwhile for the Lightning Kadie-Ann Dehaney (six deflections, five gains, two intercepts, two rebounds) had another stellar game, as did Koenen, who only missed two shots for the night and landed a rare Super Shot. She also finished with three feeds, an assists, three gains, two intercepts and a deflection.

MELBOURNE VIXENS                    15 | 16 | 16 | 13 (60)
SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING    17 | 16 | 12 | 11 (56)

STARTING SEVENS

Melbourne Vixens

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

Sunshine Coast Lightning

GS: Cara Koenen
GA: Steph Wood
WA: Annie Miller
C: Laura Scherian
WD: Mahalia Cassidy
GD: Karla Pretorious
GK: Kadie-Ann Dehaney