The Melbourne Vixens reclaimed top spot on the Suncorp Super Netball ladder with a 71-50 win over the Adelaide Thunderbirds at Margaret Court Arena.
Led by 48 goals from Mwai Kumwenda (at 91%) and 23 goals from Tegan Philip (74%), the hosts did not trail once.
It wasn’t the Vixens’ most complete performance of the season, with the determined Thunderbirds making life hard early on in what was their second-last match of the season,but having lost to the Giants last week, coach Simone McKinnis said it was just important to get back to winning ways.
“They were all pretty disappointed (after last week) and it took them a couple of days,” McKinnis said.
“You could see that they were a little bit flat at training on Wednesday, but come Friday I felt, ‘yep, OK, they’re on with it now’.
“That’s netball, you’ve got to be able to win, able to lose, but get on with it.”
It took only 10 seconds for the Vixens to take the lead from the opening throw and they held onto that one-goal margin at quarter time despite missing 4 of their 21 shots whilst the Thunderbirds maintained 100% shooting accuracy.
But by half time McKinnis’ team had been rewarded for its midcourt dominance, with the lead having blown out to five goals - although that margin had been as much as nine.
Liz Watson, was instrumental in wing attack and ended the match with 27 assists whilst goal keeper Emily Mannix and goal defence Jo Weston provided a fortress at the back, forcing the Thunderbirds into an attacking reshuffle midway through the second quarter.
That momentum carried on after the main break, with the Vixens extending the gap to 12 goals by three-quarter time before blowing it out to 21 against the labouring visitors.
Mannix was named Most Valuable Player.
