Highlanders down Burdekin in dramatic Townsville Premier League netball clash
Highlanders broke open the finals race of Townsville’s Premier League netball with a 49-43 statement win over the Burdekin Silverlinks. Catch up on all the action and see who starred.
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Highlanders broke open the finals race of Townsville’s Premier League netball on Monday night with a 49-43 statement win over 2024 heavyweights the Burdekin Silverlinks.
The top-four clash promised to be a spectacle and both teams delivered with impressive whole-team performances on both sides of the ball.
Burdekin raced out to an 8-2 lead in the opening minutes but that would prove to be their biggest advantage of the night as Highlanders stabilised with a strong run of their own to pull back momentum.
Silverlinks midcourter Martina Monday was a standout at WA and C with her rapid passing and quickfire decision-making, usually finding the right teammate when feeding her shooters.
The teams could barely be split as they traded blows through four bruising quarters, swapping the lead with great shooting until the final 10 minutes when Highlanders built a four-goal buffer.
Burdekin GS Mackenzie Linton finished with 29/35 goals while Highlanders GS Sophie Watson had an accurate start, scoring 22/25 first-half goals, before eight misses in the third quarter hurt her final statistics of 35/46.
But it was Watson’s shooting partner Grace Bowman that landed the killing blows down the stretch as she guided her side to victory with seven final-quarter goals, drawing praise from the team’s bench official Barrie Emanuel.
“That’s the best game I’ve seen Grace Bowman play in two years,” Emanuel said.
“Tonight it was more than her shooting, it was her execution with her partnership with Sophie (Watson).
“Some of the delivery of her passes to Sophie were sublime. She was unselfish, but when it came time in the last quarter she took control and never missed a shot.
“Grace certainly iced the game for us tonight and got some really crucial goals in that last six or seven minutes and really put the game to bed for us. It was an awesome team effort from one end to the other.”
The two-game win streak puts Highlanders in reach of a top-two finish with four rounds to play before finals.
Frontrunners Saints continued their hot form with a 43-37 win over last-placed Phoenix.
Despite having only one win so far in 2024, Phoenix are the only team who have toppled Saints in the Premier League in the last two seasons and they showed why no one can take them lightly.
Rising Phoenix star Charlotte Clive played big minutes at centre and had an ongoing battle with Chelsea O’Neill throughout the physical contest.
Saints midcourter Rachel King was a turnover machine in the middle and the midcourt’s interplay with the attack was superb, though sometimes bordering on excessive.
Great marking put the pressure on Saints and their lead was as slim as two goals early in the final quarter before they scored three in a row thanks to some sharp defensive play by Anna Child.
Runaways shooters Jorja James (42/45) and Bianca Theodore (34/37) were outstanding as their side outclassed the FNAE Roos 76-47, but as usual it was the rapid ball movement across all three thirds that led to the win.
WA Jessica Freeman set the pace while WD Imogen Everson continues to develop her impressive overhead pass which often proved to be a great outlet from defence.
Marian Vixens defeated Neptunes 44-35 in a pivotal clash and the two sides are now locked on 18 points, a win and a half behind Highlanders and a finals position.
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Originally published as Highlanders down Burdekin in dramatic Townsville Premier League netball clash
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