All eyes were on the top of the Austrlia’s Suncorp Super Netball League this weekend, as Vixens looked to comeback from their first league defeat and teams continued their surge for the top 4 places.
Let’s take a look at how all the teams got on…
NSW Swifts 62 – 69 Lightning
Defending champions NSW Swifts were struck late by lightning in Round 6, making it two wins in a row for the previously struggling Lightning side.
The difference was in the accuracy of the shooting, with Swifts only shooting at 85% compared to Lightnings 97%.
The standout shooter in the match was Australian born Cara Koenen, who scored 48 of her 49 shots.
The win now puts Lightning at 5th and in contention for the top 4 again, whilst Swifts sit further down the table at 7th.
Vixens 53 – 47 Thunderbirds
After suffering their first defeat of the season last weekend, Vixens got back to winning ways against Thunderbirds on Saturday.
Jamaican Sunshine Girl, Shamera Sterling, helped her Thunderbirds side in defence making two interceptions, showing just why she still tops leagues the intercepts chart, however even the presence of Sterling wasn’t enough to ruin Vixens rhythm as they worked the ball patiently down the court.
The victory puts Vixens back on top of the Suncorp Super Netball League.
Firebirds 59 – 67 Magpies
Another round, another upset and this time it was Firebirds that were dealt the blow as Magpies shocked them with a strong performance that saw them beat the home side 59-67.
A strong second quarter from the visitors, followed by the experience of defensive duo and Magpies co-captains Ash Brazill (Australian Diamond) and Geva Mentor (England Rose) in the 4th quarter, ensured that Firebirds penultimate quarter surge wasn’t enough to get them anything from the game.
Magpies still sit bottom of the table, but the victory will do their spirits well as they face the challenge of top of the table Vixens in the next round.
Giants 74 – 73 Fever
Things began to heat up in the top four again in the final match of the round as Giants beat Fever, moving themselves back up into the top 4 and seeing Fever drop to second.
Just like things at the top of the table, this was an extremely close match with only one goal separating the two sides when the final whistle was blown.
It all went down to the last quarter in the match, after Giants led for the first half an hour only to have their hard work undone by Fever in quarter three leaving the score at 55-58 to the visitors going into the final break of the match.
However, the home side redeemed their poor penultimate quarter performance in the final 15 thanks to excellent shooting from Jo Harten (England Rose) and Sophie Dwyer (Australian Diamond), and a strong centre performance from Jamie-Lee Price (Australian Diamond) meaning they took the win and moved to 4th in the league.
Coming Up…
Round 7 of the Suncorp Super Netball League begins on the 30th April, and you can view the fixtures and previous results here.
You can view the league table here.
International fans can watch every game of the 2022 Suncorp Super Netball Season live and on-demand as part of NetballAustralia.TV, the official international subscription service for fans outside of Australia and New Zealand.
To find out more about elite domestic netball leagues in other World Netball Regions, click here.
