Super Netball prelim final: Vixens overcome West Coast Fever, face Thunderbirds in grand final
Melbourne Vixens twice came from behind and survived a late scare to book their place in the Super Netball grand final with a nail-biting 73-72 preliminary final victory against the West Coast Fever at a packed-out John Cain Arena.
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Melbourne Vixens twice came from behind and survived a late scare to book their place in the Super Netball grand final with a nail-biting 73-72 preliminary final victory against the West Coast Fever at a packed-out John Cain Arena.
The Vixens led by as many as 12 goals in the last quarter but clung on for dear life to hold on by a point against the fast-fashioning Fever.
The fierce contest was full of momentum swings as the Vixens trailed by five in the first term and four during the third quarter before goal keeper Emily Mannix was brought off the bench following a timeout and turned the match on its head.
Mannix created a deflection against Fever goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard within seconds of being on court and the Vixens never looked back.
Fowler-Nembhard is the most prolific shooter in the competition and was recently dubbed the best goaler in the history of the sport by her coach Dan Ryan but Mannix’s introduction put a halt to her dominance.
The 35-year-old Jamaican let a pass burst through her fingers, fumbled another and missed two super shots in a chaotic seven minutes of play that the Fever could not recover from.
Vixens’ star shooters Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin cashed in on the change of tide to take a five-goal lead into the final break and extend that advantage to 12 during the last quarter.
Austin and Garbin kept their side in it when they nailed all four of their super shots in the opening term and they reaped the rewards of their early efforts in the second half.
It was a stunning turnaround from Garbin who was benched for much of the Vixen’s one-point loss to the Fever in Round 13 but was the highest rated player on court this time out.
Garbin shot 38 of 40 attempts including two super shots and also delivered ten goal assists and hauled in a game-high four rebounds.
Austin was similarly lethal, shooting 29 of 32 attempts including four of five super shots.
“It doesn’t always just happen. It can be tight and when your opportunities come you have to make the most of the them,” Vixens coach Simone McKinnis said.
“You have to grind a way and find a way. When the openings came I thought we really pounced on them.
“Emily is such a great team person, our vice-captain, she’s been so good for us all year.
“She would have loved to have been out there from the start but it’s so important to be able to come on and have an impact.”
The loudest roars were saved for the defensive efforts of Mannix, Jo Weston, Kate Eddy and Rudi Ellis - who started at goal keeper - however.
They were unable to disrupt much of the Fever’s ball movement early but they sprung to life in the second half with Eddy producing two crucial intercepts.
Fowler-Nembhard finished the match shooting 56 of 61 attempts as she linked up strongly with Alice Teague-Neeld who played wing attack for much of the night but switched to goal attack late and contributed a game-high 21 goal assists.
The Vixens on the other hand had a variety of avenues to create shots with Austin (19), wing attack Hannah Mundy (18) and centre Kate Moloney (16) all having 16 or more goal assists.
The Vixens will now have a shot at redemption against the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Adelaide.
They have been trounced by a combined 40 goals in their past two clashes - in the major semi final and Round 12 - with the minor premiers on their home court.
The Fever meanwhile have been knocked out in the preliminary final for a second successive year after they lost to the NSW Swifts by a goal last year.
“It is agonisingly gutting to miss out on a grand final spot by one goal again,” West Coast Fever coach Dan Ryan said.
“Really disappointed. I think all of us are feeling the pain a little bit at the minute. But really proud of that spirited fight back in the last five minutes to give ourselves a little bit of a chance.”
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Originally published as Super Netball prelim final: Vixens overcome West Coast Fever, face Thunderbirds in grand final
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