The Melbourne Vixens have gone down by one goal to the Sunshine Coast Lightning in the Super Netball semi-final.
Despite a spirited comeback in the final minutes of the match, the visitors proved just too much for the Melbourne side, taking out the win and the first Grand Final spot by just one goal in the fiery major semi-final match.
Right from the first centre pass, it was clear the match would be highly contested with both teams struggling to make a clean break at leadtake a clear lead for much of the first term.
A cohesive Lightning unit was proving a tough fight for the Vixens, with plenty of turnovers in the first half. Despite some messy passes, the Vixens were able to capitalise on the small Lightning errors to tie up the scores at the first break.
The Vixens began to hit their stride heading into the second quarter keeping scores closely tied until breaking into their first lead of the match with five minutes left in the half.
Vixens defenders, Jo Weston and Emily Mannix, produced another standout performance, with their combined efforts with defensive partner Emily Mannix causing problems for the Sunshine Coast offense. Weston threw herself at almost every opposition ball in her path, successfully slowing down the Lightning and creating scoring opportunities for the Vixens.
Vixens shooters, Mwai Kumwenda and Tegan Philip, maintained their accuracy at goal for much of the match despite strong efforts from Lightning defenders Geva Mentor and Stephanie Wood to shake up the duo. Kumwenda finished the first half with a stunning 100% at goal, making the most of every scoring opportunity the Vixens were given.
The Melbourne Vixens came out firing after the main break, pushing ahead to a five point lead, their biggest of the match.
Vixen Emily Mannix gained the first intercept of the match deep in the third quarter, demonstrating just how hard fought the match between the two sides was.
However, some swift and tactical play from the Lightning late in the third quarter narrowed the Vixens lead to only two goals heading into the final term.
The Sunshine Coast dominated the final quarter. Thanks to some clever and aggressive defensive work, the visitors managed to tie the scores back up before taking the lead once again with 11 minutes of play leftremaining.
Despite the Vixens’ efforts to fight back from four goals down in the final minutes, the Lightning proved too strong taking the win by a heart-stopping one goal.
The win sees the Sunshine Coast Lightning take the first place in the inaugural Super Netball Grand Final, with the Vixens offered a second chance to progress in next week’s preliminary final against the GIANTS Netball.
Melbourne Vixens head coach Simone McKinnis said the team will take a lot away from their semi-final loss.
“They’ve been learning all year, they’ll take a lot from that and they know what it takes to have to win a final,” McKinnis said.
“It was a good, hard, tough match, I guess, it’s finals netball.” she said.
The win sees the Sunshine Coast Lightning take the first placespot in the inaugural Super Netball Grand Final to be played in two weeks., with the Vixens offered a second chance to progress in next week’s preliminary final against the GIANTS Netball. Their opponent will be determined in the Preliminary Final this Saturday when the Melbourne Vixens will take on the GIANTS Netball at Margaret Court Arena at 7:00pm
