Melbourne Vixens pull off a stunning comeback against West Coast Fever

MELBOURNE Vixens coach Julie Hoornweg is mystified by her team's poor starts after her players defeated West Coast Fever.

Tegan Caldwell

MELBOURNE Vixens coach Julie Hoornweg says she is mystified by her team's poor starts after her players were forced to stage another comeback victory to defeat West Coast Fever 50-49 yesterday.

The Vixens recovered from a seven-goal deficit in the second quarter to score their third one-goal win for the season in a 50-49 thriller at Hisense Arena yesterday.

As they did against Thunderbirds in their last match, the Vixens produced a dominant third quarter, in which they outscored Fever 17-9.

Karyn Howarth (28/35) shot the goal to put the Vixens in front with just 28 seconds left after a mid-court turnover intercepted by captain Bianca Chatfield.

While yesterday's result was closer, the match followed a similar pattern to the Round 10 win over the Thunderbirds when they turned around an eight-goal deficit to win 48-40.

Hoornweg said the team needed to end its poor starts.

"We're doing this horrible thing of not playing well in the first half and it just can't keep going," she said.

"We're just chasing our tails in the second half. We've tried different combinations to try and find some energy.

"I was pretty disappointed in the attack end. I just thought our shooters didn't stand up. They weren't strong enough and they weren't accurate enough in that first half. It's mystifying."

Hoornweg said the positive from the patchy form was they were still to find top gear with games - against Central Pulse and Southern Steel in New Zealand - remaining.

The second-placed Vixens were leap-frogged on the ladder by Adelaide Thunderbirds after their 62-35 thumping of NSW Swifts yesterday, while Northern Mystics slipped to third after their 48-46 loss to Waikato Bay-of Plenty Magic last night.

"The positive is we're not playing our best netball ... and we're up there," she said. "Just imagine when we get it right, how good we'll be."

Despite her concerns about the shooting, Hoornweg praised Ashlee Howard, who played her first minutes of the season when she was introduced at goal attack in the third quarter.

"She just doesn't quite have the resilience to play out a whole game ... or a half a game, but she did a mammoth job," Hoornweg said.

"She opened up the attack end. We were starting to get some second-phase depth that we weren't getting in the first half. That allowed the flow on to the shooter and allowed more space for the back to come down and support us."

Three things we learnt about Melbourne Vixens  - with Rebecca Williams

1. VIXENS coach Julie Hoornweg has identified the team's poor first halves as a major concern heading into the finals and the season stats reflect this.

In the Vixens' 11 games so far this season, the team has trailed in six of those. But in four of those six games, the Vixens have been able to turn their halftime deficit into a win.

Their comeback powers have become a theme for the season, but as Hoornweg noted, the team won't be able to afford that luxury in the finals.

2. VIXENS vice-captain Chelsey Tregear again showed her importance to the team's mid-court after her injection into the game against the Fever.

Hoornweg gave Sarah Wall her first start of the season at centre, but her part in the game wasn't long lived with the Vixens struggling early on.

Tregear was brought on for the start of the second quarter and did a great job in her battle with Fever's Ashleigh Brazill for the rest of the match, providing Madison Browne with more support in attack and a stronger defensive game.

3. THE Vixens' goalers have been singled out several times this season as an area that needs to lift and again that was highlighted against the Fever.

Tegan Caldwell and Kate Beveridge both struggled against the physicality of Fever defenders Eboni Beckford-Chambers and Chanel Gomes early in the game.

But Karyn Howarth performand well after coming on at goal shooter for the start of the second quarter, in which she nailed 9 goals from 11 attempts before finishing with a team-high 33 for the match and showing great composure to shoot the winner in the last 30 seconds.