Giants beat Magpies to amp up late charge for Super Netball minor premiership
AS the Magpies farewelled retiring star Sharni Layton in her final home match, a clinical Giants upped the ante in their late challenge for the Super Netball minor premiership.
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WHILE Magpies fans made an emotional farewell to retiring star Sharni Layton in her final home match, a clinical Giants upped the ante in their late challenge for the Super Netball minor premiership with a 66-56 away victory on Sunday.
A stellar shooting performance from Susan Pettitt, who is also retiring at the end of the season, and English star Jo Harten delivered the Giants the crucial victory.
Pettitt nailed 30 from 32 at a high 94 per cent accuracy with Harten scoring 36 from 41 at 88 per cent.
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“We were clinical in the way we stayed cool and composed under pressure because it really way a tight game at stages,’’ Pettitt said.
The Giants also picked up a maximum eight points for the game by winning every period to secure themselves a spot in the semi-finals - but in what position they still do not know.
The final round of the regular season will now determine the minor premiership and also the final makeup of the semi-finals.
If the Giants dominate their clash with Fever in Sydney on Saturday they have a shot at claiming the minor premiership while the outcomes of the Firebirds v Magpies game on Saturday and the Vixens v Lightning clash on Sunday will decide the make-up of the top four.
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In the other Super Netball game on Sunday, the Queensland Firebirds beat the winless Adelaide Thunderbirds 67-46 but failed to pick up crucial maximum points in the game after drawing the first quarter.
As a result, defending champions, Lightning, who convincingly beat the Swifts by 10 goals on Saturday, have now moved ahead of their Queensland rivals on the league ladder.
Going into the final round of the regular season, Fever continue to lead from the Giants with Lighting now in third place, the Firebirds in fourth and the Vixens just out of the final four.