IN a battle of first versus last it was the GIANTS that cruised to victory over the Melbourne Vixens by nine goals, 54-45. Although it took a while for the GIANTS to kick into gear, once they did the Vixens struggled to combat the pressure both in attack and defence.

The GIANTS came out with a hiss and a roar as Sophie Dwyer nailed the first two goals of the game before Jo Harten chimed in with a goal of her own to create a three-goal buffer within the first minute of action. But the Vixens did not panic as Kaylia Stanton asserted herself on the contest to open the account and get the cogs ticking over in attack. It then turned into a shootout with both sides capitalising off their centre pass as they settled into the contest. Hannah Mundy was crucial around circle edge for the Vixens with the youngster finding her groove while her counterpart in Amy Parmenter was also proving to be a nuisance with her niggle and speed.

The goal for goal rhythm continued for much of the term with neither side able to really assert themselves on the contest as the GIANTS maintained their handy buffer. But as the quarter went on the Vixens unlocked some better ball movement thanks to the workrate of Kate Moloney and Mundy. Mwai Kumwenda got busy with her body positioning and aerial presence to keep the Vixens in the game as they mounted somewhat of a comeback in the final couple of minutes of play. Three goals straight cut the margin down with only two goals separating the two sides at quarter time.

It was somewhat of a stagnant start in the second term with the GIANTS frontend not finding a wealth of space but still able to add to the scoreboard with Harten weaving her magic to break free under the post. the ball ping-ponged up and down the court with Kumwenda missing a couple of sitters that she would normally slot. The GIANTS held onto a three-goal lead but nothing was easy across the court as both sides looked laboured in attack. The battle between Harten and Mannix was palpable with the latter contesting every single pass and putting the GIANTS goal shooter under all sorts of pressure to score. The Vixens shook things up in attack with Stanton switching back to goal shooter and Kumwenda moving out to goal attack. Things were not falling the way of Kumwenda inside the circle while up the other end Harten was dominating. Dwyer continued on her merry way inside the goal circle as the GIANTS extended their lead to eight goals.

It was turning into a GIANTS masterclass as they slotted six goals straight with Parmenter dominating and using her closing speed to win ball back and propel it down the other end of the court. Inaccuracy continued to plague the reigning premiers but it was not the same case for the GIANTS as they chipped away with their short sharp passes led by Jamie-Lee Price. A much needed super shot from Kumwenda got them back into the contest as they culled the deficit from nine to seven. Brandley caused mayhem down in defence with her elevation to get hands to ball but they could not capitalise as the Vixens started to rally taking advantage of the super shot. Ruby Barkmeyer entered the fray in at goal shooter but struggled to have a real impact with the GIANTS applying smothering defence.

Up by a handy seven goals the GIANTS wasted no time adding to their tally with Dwyer slotting a nice goal to open the second half. The Vixens shifted their shooting combination with Barkmeyer swinging into her traditional position of goal attack and used her turn of speed to have an impact. Brandley and Parmenter were doing a mountain-load of work through both transition and defence while Sam Poolman impressed with her three-foot marking to come up with a big intercept. Jo Weston sparked into action with the goal defence gobbling up consecutive rebounds as the overall defensive pressure kicked up a gear for the Vixens. After a sluggish and uncharacteristic first half, Kumwenda fired up to provide a commanding figure under the post to drag her side back into the contest.

After a highly defensive opening few minutes in the third quarter the attacking nature of both sides kicked into gear with Kumwenda and Harten proving to be lynchpins for their respective sides. With the lead ballooning out to 10 goals Kadie-Ann Dehaney was injected into the thick of things for Melbourne but that did very little as the GIANTS continued on their upwards trajectory. Maddie Hay really started to come into the game with Harten seeking out the wing attack around circle edge. With the super shot in play the GIANTS were happy to shake things up and opt for under the post or perimeter edge. Parmenter was in fine form with the wing defence popping up to take a huge intercept as they went into three quarter time up by 11 goals.

Matilda McDonnell and Kristiana Manu’a both made their way onto the court in goal keeper and wing defence respectively for the GIANTS with McDonnell getting the chocolates nice and early. Allie Smith also entered the game for the Vixens but it was McDonell that was running riot down in defence with her speed off the mark and cleanliness at the contest. The GIANTS were gaining some real momentum pushing out to a 14-goal lead as Price and Hay dominated proceedings around circle edge. Stanton came back on midway through the term but it was much of the same as the Vixens struggled to eat into the growing deficit. Mattise Letherbarrow provided some fresh legs in the GIANTS frontend as they cruised to a nine goal victory, staving off a late super shot driven comeback from Kumwenda in the process.

Harten had a hot hand finishing with 30 goals from 38 attempts while Dwyer slotted 20 goals from 27 attempts at 74 per cent. Kumwenda recorded 34 goals at 79 per cent as Stanton only managed four from 11 at a mere 36 per cent. Mundy led the charge with 10 goal assists while in the GIANTS camp both Hay and Price finished with 11 apiece. McDonell was a ball magnet in her 15 minutes of play collecting three intercepts as Brandley registered five deflections. Mannix and Weston combined for 13 gains in the loss.

GIANTS NETBALL 14 | 13 |16 | 11 (54)
MELBOURNE VIXENS 12 | 9 | 12 | 13 (45)

STARTING SEVEN: 

GIANTS:

GS: Jo Harten
GA: Sophie Dwyer
WA: Maddie Hay
C: Jamie-Lee Price
WD: Amy Parmenter
GD: April Brandley
GK: Sam Poolman

Vixens:

GS: Mwai Kumwenda
GA: Kaylia Stanton
WA: Hannah Mundy
C: Kate Moloney
WD: Kate Eddy
GD: Jo Weston
GK: Emily Mannix

Photo credit: SSN Twitter