‘Absolute fiasco’ as Vixens handed consecutive centre passes late in tense derby win

Super Netball has been rocked by yet another stuff-up in round one, with one coach fuming at her side being ‘completely robbed’.

Melbourne Vixens bounced back from their round 1 loss with a thrilling victory, taking cross-town bragging rights in the derby.

Trailing the Collingwood Magpies all game, shooter and MVP Mwai Kumwenda sealed the one-point win with a two pointer after the siren.

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However, an umpiring error gave the Vixens two consecutive centre passes in the late stages of the last quarter.

On the sidelines, Magpies coach Nicole Richardson was furious.

She later expressed her frustrations: “What happened in the last minute and a half is an absolute fiasco.

Nicole Richardson (left) was absolutely livid after the non-decision. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

“You cannot have a result like that. This is an elite level competition.

“You have an automated scoreboard that tells you whose centre pass it is. You have a bench who knows exactly whose centre pass it is, but the bench do not have the power to do anything about it.

“That has cost us the game and that’s why I am angry.

“Sophie (Garbin) addressed it. I then got up and addressed it.

“I was basically ignored. They just wanted to finish the game and we wanted to bring it to their attention then and there in the moment of the game and they didn’t want to listen to us and the game continued.

“We have been completely robbed because we would have had an opportunity to go two goals up or an opportunity to starve them of the ball and take some time off the clock. And they shot after the siren anyway.”

Penalties were a concern for both sides, with a total of 141.

The Vixens celebrated their win hard. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

During a time-out, Richardson asked her side to step back from their opponents and avoid the whistle. While they adjusted for a small period, the instruction didn’t stick.

In the closing minutes of the first half, the umpires had enough of the Magpies’ physicality, issuing a caution to centre Molly Jovic for her persistent contact.

The penalty carried with it a command to tidy up. During the halftime break, Magpies co-captain Ash Brazill was seen chatting to the umpires.

In commentary it was confirmed that the chat was about the amount of whistle her side was receiving.

Controversially, Richardson commented on the “two different ends” of umpiring, with some penalties let go at one end, but called at the other.

With the scores drawing closer in the final minutes, Vixens goal attack Kiera Austin received a “licence to shoot” from range. With scores level, Kumwenda embraced the order and under immense pressure from three defenders, calmly slotted a match-winning super shot.

“I was thinking, it was a tough one today, we are losing, I must shoot this. It was awesome,” she said.

It is unknown yet whether the result will stand due to the centre pass controversy.

It comes after an opening round filled with controversy for Super Netball, with the Swifts-Thunderbirds fixture delayed for an hour because of court surface issues that saw officials forced to remove sponsor decals, before being abandoned entirely with a power outage at half time.

Not being able to be completed in the allotted two-hour window meant that the game was declared a draw, prompting outrage on social media and from disappointed fans, in contrast to the half-time power issues that marred the round two AFL clash between Brisbane and Melbourne, which saw a result played out after a 40-minute delay.