The Melbourne Vixens have gone down 57-65 against the GIANTS Netball in the Super Netball Preliminary Final on Saturday night.
Although it was a hard fought match, the Vixens were unable to seal the win and a spot in the inaugural Super Netball Grand Final despite their best efforts.
The Vixens were on the back foot from the first centre pass, with the GIANTS establishing a relentless lead early on.
A smothering GIANTS defence forced the Vixens to work hard for every single pass. Kate Moloney, Jo Weston and Emily Mannix went hard after every opposition ball to try and regain lost ground early on, bringing the score down to a three goal margin at the first break.
The suffocating GIANTS defence continued in the second quarter, forcing plenty of turnovers from the Vixens offense and leaving Vixens goal attacker Tegan Philip with just 6 goals to show for the first half.
GIANTS shooter Kristina Brice showed nerves of steel, with neither of Vixens defensive duo Mannix or Weston able to rattle her. Brice topped the match for accuracy at goal with 95%, the highest of the match.
The GIANTS held strong, leading 24-32 at the main break.
In the third quarter the GIANTS dominated play once again, streaking ahead to a 12 point margin before Vixens coach Simone McKinnis brought experienced midcourter Khao Watts onto the court to try and shake up the powerful GIANTS outfit.
Vixens captain Kate Moloney was moved to Wing Defence in an attempt to slow down fierce GIANTS attacker Susan Pettitt, who was running riot on the court with midcourter Serena Guthrie.
At the final change, the Vixens trailed by 13 goals, 35-49.
The Vixens lifted their game in the final term, drawing on the vocal home crowd for support to close to margin to just 8 goals before the final siren sounded, signalling a disappointing end to the minor premier’s season.
Melbourne Vixens coach Simone McKinnis said the team had a shaky start, but was overall proud of their efforts this season.
“It was quite a shaky start for us, just in terms of basic skills and errors, so I think once we had that shaky start, the GIANTS were able to capitalise on every opportunity they had and then just kept pushing,” McKinnis said.
“It was by no means the way we wanted to finish, but I cannot be disappointed in what they were able to do as a whole over the year, what they were able to achieve together,” she said.
Despite the preliminary final loss, Vixens midcourter Liz Watson finished her season on a high, winning the inaugural Suncorp Super Netball Young Star award.
The Vixens co-vice captain has played a critical role on and off the court for the Vixens this season. In 2017, Watson has appeared in every quarter of every Vixens game and performed a critical role around the circle, topping the league in feeds to the circle with 536, as well as 288 goal assists.
Image: Tim Murdoch
