The third session of the tournament was fierce with all eight teams vying for a place in tomorrow’s Grand Final, however the Vixens and Magpies were dominant in their respective pools and earned their places in the tournament’s finale. (Full finals match schedule below)
Game one saw the West Coast Fever take on the NSW Swifts with a place in the Grand Final on the line for the Swifts.
Kaylia Stanton continued her strong play so far this tournament, adding 17 more goals to her weekend tally for the West Coast Fever.
Neither team could settle into a rhythm going into attack for much of the game, with plenty of turnovers and mistakes made by both teams, but the Swifts toughed it out to secure a 29 to 24 goal win and a place in tomorrow’s 3rd place match against the Queensland Firebirds.
Next up, GIANTS Netball took on Magpies Netball in a battle of arguably the two hottest teams of the tournament. And the match-up did not disappoint with GIANTS Netball snagging a 46 to 37 win.
There was no taking it easy in the pre-season here as both Magpies Netball and GIANTS Netball played this game at breakneck speed.
Both midcourts looked frighteningly good with the Magpies’ dynamic trio of Robinson, Browne and Ravaillion continuing to impress and Kim Green stamping her claim as one of the players of the tournament with another strong performance.
But it was the ever so cool shooting duo of GIANTS Netball that helped them take a stranglehold on the game in the fourth, with Harten scoring 20 and Austin netting 26.
It was a win-and-you’re-in situation in game four as the Sunshine Coast Lightning looked to slow down the steam-rolling Melbourne Vixens. But the Vixens continued their winning ways coming away with a 7-goal win over the reigning premiers.
The Vixens hit the court running outscoring the Lightning 14 goals to 4 in the first quarter. Jo Weston and Emily Mannix were stout in defence, Liz Watson, Kate Moloney and Renae Ingles were clean through the mid-court and Tegan Philip and Caitlin Thwaites were clinical up front.
The Lightning bounced back quickly after their slow start but could never make in-roads into that early deficit despite another great performance by new recruit Peace Proscovia.
The final match of the session was a hard-fought 44 to 33 goal win by the hometown Queensland Firebirds over a gallant Adelaide Thunderbirds team.
It was business as usual for the ever-impressive shooting duo of Romelda Aiken and Gretel Tippett but, thanks to a great shooting effort from Sasha Glasgow and another strong defensive game by Layla Guscoth, the Thunderbirds remained in touch for much of the game.
All remaining games can be streamed live through the Official Netball Live App and Telstra TV and the Grand Final will ait live on Channel 9 at 12.30pm local time / 1.30pm AEDST.
MATCH SCHEDULE FOR DAY THREE
9:30am – Adelaide Thunderbirds v West Coast Fever
10:30am – Queensland Firebirds v NSW Swifts
11:30am – Sunshine Coast Lightning v GIANTS Netball
12:50pm – Melbourne Vixens v Magpies Netball
SESSION THREE – FINAL SCORES
NSW Swifts 29 def West Coast Fever 24
GIANTS Netball 46 def Magpies Netball 37
Melbourne Vixens 42 def Sunshine Coast Lightning 35
Queensland Firebirds 45 def Adelaide Thunderbirds 33
