Dominant Vixens notch ninth straight win

By Alexander Dabb

The Melbourne Vixens celebrated a special milestone for their captain on Sunday evening at John Cain Arena, and made sure it was a party to remember, claiming a ninth straight win in front of 7566 vocal fans to record the best start to a season in club history.

It was all about skipper Kate Moloney, though, with the inspirational Vixens leader taking to the court for her 200th national league game while simultaneously becoming the first player to reach 150 Suncorp Super Netball appearances.

The home side turned it on for their captain, too, dominating the Queensland Firebirds to record a 71 to 48 win, in the process becoming the first side to lock up a finals position, moving six wins clear of the fifth-placed Swifts with five rounds remaining.

The Vixens made a hot start to proceedings on Mother’s Day, which also doubled as the Vixens’ heritage round, with the opening goal of the contest via Sophie Garbin, but the Firebirds hit back through Mary Cholhok as the two sides settled into the rhythm.

It didn’t take long for the reigning premier to race out to an early break, though, as Rudi Ellis and Zara Walters both earned early intercepts, which were converted to give the Vixens an early 6-3 lead.

It would creep out to 11-7 as the Vixens continued to pressure the Firebirds all over the court, prompting Kiri Wills to call the first tactical time out of the contest as the Power Five siren sounded.

The Vixens would make it a game-high five-goal advantage with the first possession back after the break, but the visitors did well to stem the bleeding from there, and managed to keep the scoreline steady for much of the rest of the term.

Slowly but surely the pressure from the Firebirds began to ramp up, though, as Maddy Gordon and the midcourt brigade forced a held ball to close the lead back down to two, which is where it stayed at the first break, the Vixens up 16-14.

It was in the second quarter, though, that the Vixens really took hold of the contest, as they threw the challenge down to the visitors.

Kate Eddy was electric at wing defence, topping the net points tally for the term with 28, while Walters wasn’t fire behind on 23.5 as the Vixens midcourt began to dominate.

Kiera Austin, too, started to get on top inside the circle, particularly late, making both of her Suncorp Super Shot attempts in the Power Five, as the Vixens’ dominance started to show on the scoreboard.

Out to a game-high 12 goal advantage following Austin’s second goal from range, the Vixens eventually went into the rooms at the main break ahead 35-25, winning the term 19-11 and controlling the contest with aplomb throughout the quarter.

The goal to gain percentage was telling at the main break, with the Vixens capitalising at virtually every opportunity, scoring 90 per cent of the time, while the Firebirds only converted from gains on 50 per cent of occasions.

It was a much-improved effort from the Firebirds after half time, however, as the visitors matched the Vixens goal-for-goal to begin the third term.

It took until the Power Five for the Vixens to find a break, as Cholhok missed from range at one end before the Vixens moved it at unmatched speed down the court which resulted in a Garbin goal, and gave the home side a 12-goal advantage once again.

Te Paea Selby-Rickit was the hot hand late on, though, as the Firebirds looked to take advantage from two-point range, converting her third and fourth super shots of the contest in quick succession, reducing the margin back to eight goals with just over a minute remaining.

Garbin steadied for the Vixens, though, scoring off turnover and the subsequent centre pass to reinstate a 10-goal lead, before the home side was able to move an inbound ball the length of the court with less than 12 seconds on the clock to lead by 11 at the final change, up 51-40.

The final term was a procession, with the Vixens again dominating to score seemingly at will, going ahead by 22 goals as Austin sunk a fourth super shot of the contest with just under a minute remaining, while an Austin shot after the siren following a penalty made it an eventual 23-goal margin, much to the delight of coach Di Honey.

“It’s fantastic effort,” Honey said of her side’s record start to the year.

“But truly, I have a fantastic team and believe in them, and they believe in themselves, and I just think every week, they just find a way to win.

“It was pretty impressive that last quarter, I didn't even realise it was 20 to 8, so they really finished it off which was good.”

It was only fitting that Moloney finished as the highest rated player on the court, racking up 89 net points in a stellar showing befitting of her milestone, recording an intercept and a deflection among 15 goal assists in a brilliant performance.

Reflecting on her 200-game milestone after the match, Moloney paid tribute to the club at which she has enjoyed so much success, while she put her longevity down to simply loving the game.

“It feels like I've been playing for a long time, but it also feels like it's gone so quick,” she said.

“I said it (post-game), but I think when you have a club like this that makes it so enjoyable to come to training every day, it does make it easy to keep playing.

“I really love playing netball and I love the club, and like I said before, if I feel like I can still contribute, I want to keep playing.”

The Vixens will be back in action next Saturday evening when they travel to take on the Sunshine Coast Lightning in search of a 10th win to start the season, while the Firebirds will return to Nissan Arena to host the GIANTS on Saturday night as they hunt a third win of their campaign.