Giants move to top of the ladder after strong win over Vixens

Giants coach Julie Fitzgerald believes her side’s good start was catalyst for their win over the Melbourne Vixens.

Giants wing attack Sarah Wall evades Vixens centre Kate Moloney during their match in Canberra. Picture: Getty Images

NETBALL: Giants coach Julie Fitzgerald believes her side’s ­ability to pile immediate pressure on high-flying Melbourne Vixens was the catalyst for their polished 56-52 Super Netball win at AIS Arena yesterday.

After a lean period in which it seemed the absence of injured captain Kim Green might be too great a hurdle, the Giants strung together a consummate team performance.

The win catapults them past the Vixens and Sunshine Coast Lightning to the top of the ladder with just two rounds remaining before the finals.

The Giants won the first quarter by four goals, but the Vixens were ahead by one goal at halftime, making it 28-25 to the home side. The Giants stepped up the tempo again after the break to open up a seven-goal margin at three-quarter-time. The Vixens came home strongly in the final term but the Giants held tough to ­secure a confidence building win.

“We knew if we were going to beat a team like the Vixens we had to be honest for the whole 60 minutes,” Fitzgerald said. “We couldn’t afford a slow start ­because they’ve had a couple of really blistering first quarters, so we knew our start had to be good.”

Fitzgerald was thrilled with the Giants’ defensive effort throughout and pleased that her positional changes for Susan ­Pettitt and Jo Harten paid off.

“I think it was a good option for us to move Susan into goal shooter and Jo to goal attack ­because it provided us with really good movement in the circle,” she said. “Jo’s good for us defensively down the court. I thought there were a lot of plusses.”

The Giants’ early six-goal lead condemned Melbourne to an opening-quarter deficit for the first time this season. The Vixens stepped up their defensive pressure in the second term but failed to fully convert that improvement at the other end of the court. The Giants reasserted their ­authority in the third period, prompting a Melbourne time-out and a change with Emma Ryde at goal shooter in place of Mwai Kumwenda.

Giants goalkeeper Sam Poolman maintained her intensity, seeing her side extend their ­advantage to eight goals before going to the final break ahead 42-35. The Vixens found some answers late in the match, but they came too late.

“I don’t think we ever really got into the game,” Vixens coach Simone McKinnis said. “The ­Giants did a great job in keeping up their effort right from the word go. They were very good from the first whistle and we spent the game chasing.”

Asked if the result would spur a rethink of the starting lining up, McKinnis said: “I don’t think so. We’ve got 10 players that are ­capable of going on. We didn’t play very well, the Giants played a very good game. You’ve got to identify those areas that we ­struggled in and address them.’’

The Giants’ win moved them to 20 points, with the Vixens ­second ahead of Lightning on percentage.

Lightning scored a 64-50 win over West Coast Fever on the Sunshine Coast on Friday night.

Collingwood’s gritty 62-50 ­triumph over NSW Swifts on Saturday night in Melbourne consolidated the Magpies’ hold on fourth place with a three-point break from the Queensland Firebirds. The Magpies have hit form at the right time, winning four of their past five clashes.

First plays second and third plays fourth in the first round of finals on June 3, with the top-placed side in each game hosting.

AAP