Giants beat competition heavyweights Melbourne Vixens to go top of Super Netball

GIANTS Netball have stormed to the top of the Super Netball ladder with a polished 56-52 win over competition heavyweights Melbourne Vixens.

Giants netball have risen to the top of the ladder after a strong win over the Vixens

GIANTS Netball have stormed to the top of the Super Netball ladder with a polished 56-52 win over competition heavyweights Melbourne Vixens.

The win at AIS Arena in Canberra on Sunday, which catapulted the Giants past Sunshine Coast Lightning and the Vixens, puts the expansion club on track for the minor premiership and a home semi-final, with two regular season rounds remaining.

The Giants won the first quarter by four goals, but the Vixens claimed the second by a goal, leaving the halftime ledger at 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.

Giants netball have risen to the top of the ladder after a strong win over the Vixens

The Vixens came home strongly but the Giants held on to secure confidence- building win.

The Giants’ triumph leaves the Vixens and Lightning in equal second on 19 points and the Melbourne side ahead on percentage.

Caitlin Bassett led the Lightning to 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 Giants are closing in on the minor premiership in the maiden Super Netball season

The Magpies have hit form at the right time, winning four of their past five clashes.

The Giants’ early six-goal lead on Sunday prompted the Vixens to take a tactical time out, but the home side’s impressive start continued, condemning the Melbourne side 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, going into the main break three goals in arrears.

The Giants re-asserted authority in the third period, opening up another six- goal lead, prompting another Melbourne time out and a change to Emma Ryde at goal shooter in place of Mwai Kumwenda, who had scored 21 goals from 22 attempts.

The Vixens are favourites to win the Super Netball competition

Giants goalkeeper Sam Poolman maintained her intensity in defence, seeing her side extend their advantage to eight goals before going to the final rest ahead 42-35.

The Vixens found some answers in the match, but they came too late.

Originally published as Giants beat competition heavyweights Melbourne Vixens to go top of Super Netball