Giants end Vixen’s five-game streak with crucial 60-58 Super Netball win
THE Giants have shown they have the skills and the mettle to go all the way in Super Netball after surviving a torrid battle with the Vixens to regain a top two spot in the competition.
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THE Giants have shown they have the fight and the might to go all the way in Super Netball after conquering mass nerves and surviving a torrid battle with the inform Vixens to regain a top two spot in the competition.
The Giants stared down the Vixens at home for a 60-58 win in a result with major ramifications ahead of next months semi-finals.
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After a match with everything - from a caution to the Vixens Malawian shooter Mwai Kumwenda for a rough challenge to superb pressure shooting, multiple fightbacks and patches of textbook netball from both sides- the Giants are back in second place on the league ladder and within striking distance of the minor premiership.
And while the Vixens went into the match with the confidence of five straight wins, the Giants entered off a shock — and record for this season — 14 goal loss to the Firebirds last round which triggered a mass case of nerves prior to the match.
“To be honest I was really nervous and so were a lot of the others before the game because of that walloping.’’ said English shooter Jo Harten, who scored 30 from 35 (86%) in a strong performance under the net.
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“This is an absolute relief.
“This proves we are a team that can take a walloping and learn from it
“And given the nerves we had, this is a major confidence boost.’’
While leading the match by up to seven goals on multiple occasions, the Giants had to fight to the end to thwart the Vixens bid for a sixth straight win.
The two-goal victory - along with three bonus points for winning three of the four periods - has the Giants trailing league leaders Fever by just two points with two games of the regular season remaining.
The Vixens have fallen back to third with the Firebirds in fourth but on equal points with the fifth placed Lightning.
Kumwenda topscored in the match for the Vixens with 41 goals from 43 attempts. Giants veteran Susan Pettitt scored an identical haul to Harten of 30 from 35.
The Vixens ruled the opening minutes of the first period to open a quick 3-0 lead before the Giants found their feet and fought back to lead 17-15 at the first break.
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The Vixens equalised and then went ahead early in the second period before a four minute purple patch saw the Giants score nine goals to one to set up their 33-27 halftime lead.
In a torrid third period, the Giants opened up a seven goal lead before the Vixens again fought back to level at 43-43.
Despite being outscored 17-12 in the third period, the Giants still held a 45-44 lead going into the final quarter and were never headed again as they took the crucial win..
In other matches in the round, the Magpies drew 57-57 with the Swifts, the Firebirds upset Fever 60-54 and Lightning resoundingly beat the Adelaide Thunderbirds 75-44.